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Ryan Miller spent last season as an assistant coach at Pepperdine under first-year head coach Vance Walberg. While with the Waves, Miller got a taste of The Pit in the 2006 Comcast Lobo Invitational. Pepperdine defeated Binghamton in the first round and fell to the Lobos in the championship game. "Ryan is someone who has an awful lot of energy," added Alford. "He was at Pepperdine and I thought it was very important that we bring in someone with ties to the West Coast. He has been around the game a long time as a player and as a coach. He got his start at Memphis, so he is a great addition to what we are trying to do here at New Mexico." Miller was a basketball operations assistant at Memphis under head coach John Calipari from 2004-06. During his three years at Memphis, the Tigers compiled a 78-28 (.736) record and made three postseason tournament appearances, including two trips to the NCAA Tournament. In 2005-06, Memphis compiled a 33-4 overall record and reached the NCAA Oakland Regional Final where the Tigers fell 50-45 to UCLA. In 2003-04, Memphis went 23-7 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers were 22-17 and reached the NIT Tournament Final Four during the 2004-05 campaign. In December of 2002, Miller was named head coach of the Dakota Lightning Boltz of the Midwest Professional Basketball League. In his only season as head coach, Miller led the Boltz to a 14-5 record and a league title. Miller was a two-time Northern Sun all-conference and all-academic selection. He finished his career eighth on Northern State's all-time scoring list after guiding his teams to four straight conference championships and the 1998 regional title. Miller was a Division II All-American following the 1997-1998 season. He graduated in 2000 with a degree in physical education. Following his collegiate playing career in 1999, Miller was drafted into the CBA. His professional career included playing for the Fargo-Moorhead Beez of the International Basketball Association (IBA) in 1999. He also played for the Dakota Gold of the IBA where he served as a player/assistant coach during the 2000-01 season. Miller also played two seasons in Australia where helped his team to a league championship and was named the league's Most Valuable Player. Miller attended Mitchell Senior High in Mitchell, S.D., where he was a two-time all-state performer, leading Mitchell to the 1994 state championship. His brother, Mike, currently plays for the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA. |
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