Mike Miller Jr.: ‘I was born to do this’

Mike Miller Jr. literally grew up around Alvernia basketball.

He was born the same year his dad joined the Crusaders coaching staff, 1994. When he was old enough he was a ball boy. He learned to dribble, pass and screen watching the big guys Jack McCloskey brought into the program.

He learned his shooting form at an Alvernia camp; he went on to become one of the best marksmen around. He made over 81 percent of his free throws during two seasons at Berks Catholic and knocked down more 3-pointers during his four seasons at Alvernia than any other player, before or since.

Now he’s in charge of the program.

“My whole life, there was nothing else I’d rather do,” the 28-year-old Miller said the other night, sitting with his now-retired father at the West Reading Playground courts, where he once filled it up.

Mike Miller, who turned 65 in May, has handed the keys to car to his only son. He says the idea only surfaced within the last year or so, but it seems almost predestined.

Who else would you entrust your baby to?

For the last quarter century Alvernia basketball has been Mike Miller’s life.

He moved from coaching Donyell Marshall and winning Berks championships at Reading High to a seat next to McCloskey on the Alvernia bench. He was an assistant coach for a decade before becoming taking the lead role.

He had a Hall of Fame career, claiming six conference championships, making six NCAA Tournament appearances, and winning 315 times over 19 seasons.

Before Alvernia there were 13 seasons coaching in the Reading program – six as a head coach – and a season as Kutztown High’s head boys coach. All told, the Holy Name grad has coached more than a 1,000 games.

The years, the travel, not to mention lengthy bouts vs. cancer, have worn on him. He’s ready to pass on all the responsibilities.

He admits that for the past year or so “Lite,” as he refers to his son, has taken over much of the load within the Alvernia program. Mike Jr. has handled scouting and recruiting and game prep; he’s even run practices at times.

“He was into it more than I was,” Mike Sr. said.

Mike Jr. is a true basketball junkie, just the kind of player his dad was always on the prowl for when he’d venture into high school gyms.

At the Division III level you don’t get first pick. Guys such as Stevie Mitchell, Lonnie Walker IV, Donovon Jack and Nana Foulland, they’re out of your league, literally. You’ve got to aim lower, find the right fit, identify someone who can not only play the game but loves it — and lives it.

Mike Sr. was always looking for that guy who was either playing or watching the game 24/7. If he heard a guy had plans to spend the weekend at the beach the coach moved on.

“You can’t predict how much better they’re gonna get,” he said of scouting 16- and 17-year-olds, “but, if they’re gonna put in the work they’ve gotta get better.”

That was his son. Mike Jr. was never the biggest, fastest or strongest but he found his niche on the court.

He could do one thing many struggle with: He could shoot it. If you left him open in the court, he was going to drain the shot.

He was that way at Berks Catholic, where he helped win league and district championships in the Saints’ first two season, and at Alvernia, where he played on a pair of conference championship teams. Opposing teams had to account for him.

He learned his primary basketball skill through repetition, hours and hours of putting up shots, often at Alvernia, before or after his dad’s practices. By the time he was a third-grader he was winning shooting contests. He only got better after that.

And he learned from the best. He was coached by Tony Balistrere and Snip Esterly, at Holy Name and Berks Catholic, respectively, and of course, by his dad.

Now, after five seasons as an assistant coach with the Golden Wolves, he moves up to the No. 1 seat. It seems like a natural fit.

“As long as I’ve been alive I’ve been going to Alvernia practices,” he said. “My whole life, I’ve been around it. I was almost bred to do this.

“I knew I wasn’t going to the NBA, so coaching is how I could stay in the game. My senior year (at Alvernia), I knew when I was done playing that this was going to be my life. I knew that’s what I wanted to do.”

Other guys his age were transitioning to adult summer leagues, but Mike Jr. didn’t. He was more interested in accompany his dad on scouting missions.

That, he said, remains one of his favorite parts of coaching.  He loves to get in a high school gym, dig around for uncut gems and see if he can lure them to Alvernia’s program.

“A lot of our guys who’ve be good for us, they were slept on in high school,” Mike Jr. said. “They didn’t have a lot of looks . . . and now some of them, they’re going to be all-conference and score a 1,000 points.”

His job is to convince those overlooked players that they can evolve at Alvernia. He sells the education his university offers and the facilities, including the recently added ‘PLEX,’ a state-of-the-art, multi-sport practice facility with four courts.

He sells the Reading basketball community, too.

“It’s a basketball town, and when our recruits come to our games they see that,” he said. “For a Division III school, our (game) atmosphere’s pretty darned good. That’s a big selling point.”

He’s looking for guys much like himself: Gamers who never get enough of the game – and who can shoot it.

“When I played, some teams, they put up five 3’s a game,” he said. “Now, every college team is putting up 20 3’s. So, if you’re a guard or a forward – or sometimes even a center – you’ve gotta be able to shoot. If you’re not skilled and can’t put up 3’s it’s easy for the other team to play against you.”

For the next few months he’ll be hitting the summer hoops circuit, looking for that next guy. He’s anxious for practice to begin, in September.

“That was my dad’s favorite thing: practice,” he said. “And I’ve learned from him how important practice is. You can’t take any off days in practice: If you’re not going hard in practice every day and competing against each other you’re not going to get any better.”

He realizes his dad casts a big shadow, but he’s grown up around that. That’ll be nothing but a plus moving forward. He knows he can count on him, as well as his uncle Terry Miller, who will remain with the program; they’ll always have his back.

“I’ve just gotta be my own person,” Mike Jr. said. “My main thing is, I’ve just got keep being the basketball junkie like I’ve been raised to (be): working hard, watching the film, worrying about our team.

“Just like a player: You can’t let the outside noise affect you. That’s how I’m going to be as a coach, too.”