One of the most iconic figures in women’s basketball, Cheryl Miller returns for her third season as the head women’s basketball at Cal State LA. She has made a big impact in her first two seasons after leading the Golden Eagles to the California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament both years.
Miller led the Golden Eagles to an overall record of 14-15 last season, including a 13-9 mark in conference that left Cal State LA just one game out of third and three games out of second place in a tightly-packed CCAA race.
Despite a young roster with just one senior for a second straight year, the Golden Eagles used a late six-game winning streak to vault themselves into position for a first-round tournament home game. Unfortunately, the Golden Eagles dropped hard-fought road games on the final week of the regular season and fell in a first-round game on the road.
Miller led the Golden Eagles to another successful season at home, where Cal State LA was 9-4, including 8-3 in conference games.
Miller guided a short-handed Cal State LA team in her first year as the head coach, leading the Golden Eagles to a 15-14 overall record in 2016-17 and their first winning season since 2014.
Despite a small roster, Miller guided the Golden Eagles to their best home record in the program’s history. Cal State LA was 10-1 at home with the only defeat coming in overtime. Miller brought excitement to the University Gym and her team had some memorable wins in her first season. The Golden Eagles erased an eight-point deficit in the final 47 seconds to stun Cal State Dominguez Hills, 90-89 and scored 17 straight points to stun UC San Diego, 75-69. The Golden Eagles also jumped out to a 25-8 lead after one quarter in an exciting 71-53 Homecoming victory over Cal State San Bernardino.
Miller is widely considered one of the best players of all-time and is enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. She led USC to a pair of national titles and guided the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team to a gold medal.
She has also excelled as a head coach, leading winning programs at USC, the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA and Langston and she also had a successful career as a television reporter and analyst, working with TNT for 17 years before returning to coaching.
Miller came to Cal State LA from Langston University, an NAIA program in Langston, Oklahoma. She led the Lions to a 48-12 record over two seasons and to a pair of appearances in the NAIA National Tournament.
In her first year at Langston, Miller guided the Lions to a 28-4 overall record and to the program’s first Red River Conference Tournament title since 2011. Langston advanced to the second round of the NAIA National Tournament.
In her second season, Miller led Langston to a 20-8 overall record that included a 14-4 mark in conference play. Langston once again appeared in the NAIA National Tournament, where the Lions fell in a first-round game.
Miller was previously the head coach at USC for two seasons from 1993-95 and led the Trojans to a 42-14 record and to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. The Trojans reached one regional final.
She also was the head coach and general manager of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury for four seasons and led the Mercury to the WNBA Finals in 1998.
She then embarked on a distinguished broadcasting career, most notably spending 17 years as a sideline reporter for TNT’s coverage of NBA games.
As a player, Miller was one of the best of all-time. She was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass in 1995, into the inaugural class of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999 and into the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Hall of Fame in 2010.
Miller gained early fame while starring at Riverside Poly High School, where she once scored 105 points in a game and led her program to a four-year record of 132-4 that included an 84-game winning streak and four straight CIF championships.
She became the first high school player, male or female, to be named a Parade All-American four straight years. She was named the national high-school scholar-athlete of the year in 1981 and broke state records for points scored in a single season (1,156) and in a career (3,405 points).
She continued that success at USC, where she led the Trojans to a 112-20 overall record over four seasons and back-to-back championships in 1983 and 1984 when she was named the NCAA Tournament MVP both times. She was selected as the Naismith Player of the Year three times and earned the Wade Trophy once. She was also a four-time Kodak All-American and finished her career owning virtually every school record, including career scoring (3,018 points), scoring average (22.3 points per game), career rebounds (1,534), total field goals (1,159) and total free throws made (700).
She was the ESPN Female Athlete of the Year in 1984-85 and was named the Player of the Decade (1980s) by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. When the Pac-12 Conference unveiled its All-Century Team in March of 2016, Miller was named the Pac-12 Player of the Century.
Miller was inducted into the USC Hall of Fame in 1995 and USC retired her No. 31 jersey in November of 2006. In 2018, she was inducted into the Pac-12 Conference’s Hall of Honor in a group that included women for the first time.
Miller’s international playing career was highlighted by gold medal performances in the 1984 Olympics, the 1983 Pan American Games and the 1986 Goodwill Games where she led each team in scoring.
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