UNCP Athletics

Having cemented himself as the all-time winningest coach in program history with a win over Young Harris in February 2018, Ben Miller embarks on his 29th year as a collegiate coach in 2019-20, as well as his 12^th season at the helm of the Braves.
 
Miller has led the Braves to an unprecedented run of success over the last nine years in Pembroke, including Peach Belt Conference regular season and tournament titles in two of the last three seasons. The Black & Gold is just the second school in league history to accomplish that feat, joining USC Aiken who won both the PBC’s regular season and tournament crown in both the 2012-13 and 2013-14 campaigns.
 
Since the conclusion of the 2009-10 campaign, the Braves have compiled a 184-92 (.667) record, including a 111-64 mark inside Peach Belt Conference play, and have tallied eught winning seasons. UNCP earned the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth in 2010-11, but has since qualified for the Big Dance five more times as well. The magical 2017-18 campaign - the fourth 20+-win season for the Braves in the last six years – saw the Black & Gold atop the league standings the entire season, beginning in November with the PBC Preseason Coaches Poll that tabbed the Braves as the team to beat.
 
The last nine years has produced a handful of individual recognitions as well. Thirteen players have been decorated with all-conference honors, five have gone on to secure all-district recognition from the National Association of Basketball Coaches and another has been lauded with all-America honors. Nine players have been added to UNCP’s 1,000-Point Club since the start of the 2010-11 campaign, while six have gone on to play professional basketball overseas.
 
UNCP's back-to-back-to-back winning seasons (18-12 in 2010-11, 17-12 in 2011-12, 22-10 in 2012-13) marked the first time a UNCP squad has accomplished that task since the last three seasons of the NAIA era in Pembroke (1989-92). The 2012-13 squad turned in the program's first 20-win season (22-10) since the 1990-91 campaign. 
 
No stranger to national attention under Miller’s watch, UNCP has been a regular in the NCAA statistical rankings over the last six years as well, ranking second in blocked shots per game (6.5) and eighth in field goal percentage defense (40.3) at the conclusion of the 2017-18 campaign. The Braves also showcased the PBC's top scoring team (85.9 points/game) in 2016-17 as well. The 2014-15 squad became the first team in 24 years to finish among the top 25 teams in the final NABC national ranking, while the 2016-17 and 2017-18 teams finished in the final regular season D2SIDA Top 25 ranking.
 
The excitement surrounding the program has continued to build in the stands as well. The Braves have led the Peach Belt Conference in home attendance in each of the last four seasons, and welcomed more than 21,000 fans through the turnstiles of Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court in 2014-15. UNCP's 102-91 victory over reining PBC Regular Season Champion USC Aiken in the 2013 regular season finale attracted an impressive 3,045 fans, while its 91-68 victory over Francis Marion the following February brought more than 2,500 fans through the turnstiles of its home arena. More than 2,300 people were on hand to witness UNCP's 89-65 victory over Francis Marion in the 2016-17 regular season finale which clinched a share of UNCP’s first PBC crown in program history.
 
Prior to his arrival at UNC Pembroke, Miller spent several seasons with some of the nation’s most elite head coaches, including a four-year stint (2004-08) as both an assistant coach and associate head coach for Missouri State where he helped lead the Bears to a cumulative 80-49 record, including a trio of postseason National Invitation Tournament appearances, under head coach Barry Hinson.  During Miller’s time at Missouri State, the Bears registered 22 wins in 2005-06 and 2006-07, while tallying a second place finish in the Missouri Valley Conference in 2005-06 and a third place finish in the latter. Missouri State had an average RPI of 36 from 2005-2007 amd finished as high as No. 21 in 2006.
 
Prior to his stint at MSU, Miller served 10 seasons on the coaching staff at Kansas under Roy Williams and current head coach Bill Self. Miller joined the Jayhawk staff on a full time basis in 1995 after completing his doctorate in sport psychology at the University of Kansas. He was elevated to an assistant coach in 1998 when Matt Doherty departed Lawrence, Kan., to become head coach at Notre Dame. 
 
Kansas appeared in 10 NCAA tournaments during Miller's time in Lawrence, including three Final Four appearances, two regional final (Elite Eight) showings and one Sweet 16 appearance. Along the way, the Jayhawks compiled a 258-59 win-loss record and won six Big 8/Big 12 titles and four conference tournament championships. During that same time frame, KU achieved nine listings in the final Top 25 polls, including six top five rankings.
 
During his 28-year coaching career, Miller has been involved in the grooming of 27 all-conference players and 32 academic all-conference honorees. Those numbers also include nine all-Americans, five conference players of the year and eight conference freshman/newcomer of the year laurels.
 
A basketball player and team captain at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, Miller graduated from Luther in 1991 with BA in Psychology before graduating from Northern Iowa with a MA in Physical Education in 1992. Miller completed his PhD in Sport Psychology at the University of Kansas in 1995.
 
Miller and his wife, Heather, have two children, Charlie and Betsie. Heather is a native of New Mexico and is a Luther graduate as well. Miller is the son of long-time Division I head coach Eldon Miller who compiled a 568-419 record in his 36-year coaching career that included stops at Wittenberg (OH), Western Michigan, Ohio State and Northern Iowa.


 

“Ben Miller is one of the most confident, organized, and ethical people I have ever been around in my life.  I think he has many strengths – his organizational skills and his people skills really jump out at you and the enthusiasm he has for the sport.  The sincerity when he works with the players is always so evident.  Ben is so much more a people person than he is just X’s and O’s… Ben Miller has just done a great, great job at UNC Pembroke and that is not surprising. His internal drive and passion will continue to be shown by their success. They will continue to set new records there at UNCP.”

- Roy Williams
Head Coach, North Carolina Tar Heels

"Ben is not only a great guy, but a terrific coach. The success they have had at UNC Pembroke, especially this past season, does not surprise anyone that has been around him or who has worked with him. I'm real excited for Ben and Heather and the family and I know he's excited about the program moving forward."

- Bill Self
Head Coach, Kansas Jayhawks

"Coach Miller had a tremendous impact on me as a young player at Kansas. He was always in my corner and would do anything to help me both on and off of the court. He put everything he had into our team. Coach Miller has character, passion, and resiliency. I'm lucky to have him as a friend."

- Nick Collison
 Former NBA Player, Oklahoma City Thunder

"I have known Ben Miller for the better part of a decade and am a big fan. He is a man of integrity and a go-getter. Ben is a great coach and the kind of person you want representing your school."

- Dave Telep
Senior College Basketball Recruiting Analyst, ESPN

HEAD COACHING RECORD