Sunday Chat with Evergreen graduate, national title coach Brooks Miller

Brooks Miller is still living his basketball dream, and back on March 16 it bordered on fantasy when his 13th-ranked, 29-4 Trine University men's basketball team of Angola, Ind., won the NCAA Division III national championship, beating top-ranked Hampden-Sydney College 69-61 in the title game in Fort Wayne, Ind.

The 1999 Evergreen High School graduate, who just completed his 13th season as the Thunder head coach (226-116 record), guided Trine to six wins in the 64-team tournament and a title in its first NCAA tourney appearance.

Trine entered the NCAA tourney as an at-large selection after losing to Hope College, 72-68 in overtime, in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association tournament final.

Miller, 43, was named National Association of Basketball Coaches Division III national coach of the year, and received the Glenn Robinson Award as the nation's top NCAA Division III coach for 2023-24.

The son of the late Chris Miller and LeeAnn Miller, Brooks grew up in the Metamora community as a talented three-sport youth athlete (football, basketball, baseball).

While at Evergreen, he set the Vikings' career scoring record with 1,551 points, was named third team All-Ohio in Division III as a junior (21.2 points per game), and first team as a senior (23.6 points). The 1997 and 1999 Evergreen teams reached the D-III regionals, and the 1998 team won the school's first Northwest Ohio Athletic League title.

In football, Miller earned Division V second-team All-Ohio honors as a defensive back his senior season, while also quarterbacking the Vikings.

Miller joined the University of Toledo men's basketball team as a walk-on in 1999-2000 before transferring to Hillsdale College, where he played three seasons for the Chargers.

After completing his degree at Hillsdale, Miller returned to Evergreen as an assistant for one season under his former coach, Jerry Keifer, then became a Hillsdale assistant for three seasons (2004-07).

He got perhaps the most pivotal job experience of his coaching career when he joined the Texas Tech University staff of legendary coach Bobby Knight for two seasons (2007-09). After spending two seasons (2009-11) as an assistant at South Plains College in Lubbock, Texas, Miller was named Trine's head coach in 2011.

He and his wife of 16 years, Gretchen, who reside in Angola, have a son, 10, and a daughter, 6.

The Blade: When and how did you begin to realize you had some talent for the game?

Miller: “In CYO, playing for Holy Trinity in fifth grade at the [Toledo] Catholic Club. I scored 25 points against Gesu. I remember coming home in the van and I was sitting in the back with my little brother. My mom and dad were talking. My dad was not one for a lot of compliments, but he also wasn't in your face. He was pretty good with coaching. He just adored Jimmy Jackson and Dennis Hopson, and I remember him saying to my mom, 'I wonder how good Jimmy Jackson was when he was in fifth grade?'. To me, that was a big compliment, and he didn't know I was listening.”

The Blade: What were the highlights from your career at Evergreen?

Miller: “Winning the school’s first sectional, district, and NWOAL championships with the community backing we received. Those were always such huge goals of ours — me and my friends. We were kids who stayed together. I see kids nowadays going all over the place and playing on different AAU teams or travel teams. It's really difficult to have any continuity. When we were in like seventh grade, we knew we were going to get it done. There was no doubt. We just felt it was almost a responsibility to do that.”

The Blade: How would you break down your experience as a college player?

Miller: “A front row seat to a master education in leadership and development of young men. I was a walk-on at the University of Toledo and I think coach [Stan] Joplin barely knew my name. But, I learned a ton from those guys. That staff was incredible — Tony Jones, and Monte Mathis, and coach Joplin. He was a great coach. Then I went to Hillsdale, and I was getting my butt chewed every day by the coach [Ed Douma]. He was constantly pushing you and challenging you. As a junior and senior, I became a really productive player. I was never the best player. I had to learn different roles to fill.”

The Blade: Which coaches were most influential to you, and why?

Miller: “My high school coaches – Jerry Keifer, Bob Beemer, Troy Roth, and Brian Nagy – they challenged us, supported us, and laughed with us.”

The Blade: How would you describe the trail that led you to becoming the head coach at Trine?

Miller: “Very special and similar to a Forrest Gump story. My wife and I have met some tremendous people along the way, and wouldn’t trade the journey for anything. The way I was able to get the job at Texas Tech, we just happened to bump into Pat Knight at the Final Four, and I basically just came out and said, 'Hey, I need a job.' He was really close with the guy I worked for and he said, 'If you can work him, you could work for us.' So, I ended up going there and was part of coach [Bobby] Knight's final season as a head coach.”

The Blade: How would you break down the progression of the program during your time as head coach?

Miller: “Our goal was to create a style of play that would give us a chance to compete for championships every year, and recruit young men with the talent, character, and commitment to execute it. We are the only team in our MIAA conference to finish in the top four of the standings for 13 straight seasons. Since 2018, we have won three MIAA titles, and 76 percent of our games [121-38], culminating with the 2024 national championship.”

The Blade: Does the national championship validate your choice of a coaching career?

Miller: “What validates the career choice is that, at the championship game, seeing all the former players that came to watch. We had close to 30 players and their families there. Seeing my Little League coaches, high school coaches, and high school teammates there. It wasn't winning the championship. It was everything that comes with the relationships that you make to put yourself in a situation to win a championship.”

The Blade: What has compelled you to coach?

Miller: “What I love is the platform and the opportunity to really hit home on the intangible values that are so easy to disregard when it comes to success. We really emphasize the value of enthusiasm, passion, and energy in everything we do when it comes to basketball. We emphasize the importance of communication with each other, and what respect means — for each other, for your opponents, for the officials, for the fans. I like having that platform, no matter how small it is. We're really lucky to be at a place like Trine, with the support that we have.