Miiller honored with Wooden Award

Dec. 1—Hall of Fame Hatchet Basketball coach Gene Miiller was one of two Indiana high school basketball coaches recognized among the inaugural honorees of the John Wooden Legacy Coaching Award presented by the National High School Basketball Coaches Association. A total of 78 coaches were selected across the country.

Miiller and Donna Sullivan, a long-time coach of the Seymour girls and a current Trinity Lutheran girls' assistant, are the first honorees from the Hoosier state as nominated by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association. The two join 76 other winners from 40 states and the District of Columbia that were put forth in an NHSBCA program coordinated with the Paycom Wooden Legacy tournament played Nov. 25-26 at Anaheim, Calif.

The award honors scholastic basketball coaches from around the country who are educators and have achieved excellence on the floor, in the classroom and in the community that further embody the characteristics and legacy of the late John Wooden. The criteria for the award are rooted in the ideals of education, longevity, character, service and excellence.

"I'm just so proud to have my name associated with Coach Wooden's in any way. He always was a hero of mine and someone I looked up to, not just in basketball, but life too," said Miiller.

Miiller said that he got a chance to met the UCLA great once at a coaching clinic.

"We were at a clinic in Cincinnati and he was the last speaker. After he was done speaking, he stayed and talked to anyone who wanted to talk with him. That was really special," he added.

Miiller, 67, is in his 46th season as a varsity basketball coach with a record of 725-352, including a 257-124 mark in his 17th season with the Washington Hatchets. During his tenures at Kankakee Valley (1976-81), Vincennes Lincoln (1981-98), Lafayette Jeff (1998-2005) and Washington (2005-present), Miiller's teams have won 29 sectionals, eight regionals, four semi-states and state titles at Washington in 2008, 2010 and 2011. He also guided Vincennes Lincoln to a state runner-up finish in 1984.

A 1971 graduate of South Newton High School, Miiller was a three-time letterman, a two-time all-conference player and set school records for single-game scoring and assists. He also played football and was class president in high school. Miiller also is a 1975 graduate of Wabash College, where he was a three-year basketball letterman for the Little Giants and winner of the school's George E. Carscallen Prize in mathematics.

Miiller has coached five Indiana All-Star players in his career in Sean Daugherty (1994), Payton Stovall (2003) Bryan Bouchie (2007), and Mr. Basketballs Tyler Zeller (2008) and Cody Zeller (2011).

He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012 and the Wabash College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014.

He also was an IBCA District 1 Coach of the Year in 1980 at Kankakee Valley, an IBCA District 5 Coach of the Year in 1990 at Vincennes Lincoln and an Indiana All-Star assistant coach in 1992. In addition, Miiller has held basketball clinics in Africa and Australia during his career.

Sullivan, 73, coached girls' basketball at Seymour from 1970 through 2001. She compiled a career record of 344-241 with the Owls with 10 sectional trophies, five regional crowns, one semi-state title, one State Finals appearance in 1987 and two South Central Conference championships. Four of her Seymour players were chosen to the Indiana All-Stars in Erika McCoy (1986), Teri Moren (1987), Julie VonDielingen (1989) and Amber Holle (1997).