Eldon Miller
Eldon Miller (born June 19, 1939)
Teams coached: Wittenberg Tigers, Western Michigan Broncos, Ohio State Buckeyes, Northern Iowa Panthers
Wittenberg record: 142-55 (.721)
Western Michigan record: 86-68 (.558)
Ohio State record: 176-118 (.597)
Northern Iowa record: 164-178 (.480)
Overall record^: 568-419 (.575)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 6 (1976, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1990)
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 3 (1976, 1980, 1983)
- NCAA Tournament Final Four: 0
- NIT Championships: 1 (1986)
- NIT Appearances: 1 (1986)
- MAC Regular Season Champion: 1 (1976)
- OAC (Div II) Regular Season Champion: 5 (1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1969)
- Summit League Tournament Champion: 1 (1990)
- NCAA Division II National Championships: 0 (Runner-up in 1963)
- NCAA Division II Tournament Appearances: 2 (1963, 1969)
- NCAA Division II Tournament Final Four: 1 (1963)
Awards:
- Missouri Valley Coach of the Year: 1 (1997)
- Summit League Coach of the Year: 1 (1989)
- Big Ten Coach of the Year: 1 (1983)
- MAC Coach of the Year: 1 (1976)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 2008-2020 | UNC Pembroke (volunteer asst) |
| 1986-1998 | Northern Iowa |
| 1976-1986 | Ohio State |
| 1970-1976 | Western Michigan |
| 1962-1970 | Wittenberg |
| 1961-1962 | Wittenberg (asst) |
Eldon Miller Facts
- Eldon Miller
- Born June 19, 1939
- Hometown: Chester, Pennsylvania
- Alma Mater: Wittenberg University (BA, 1961)
- Played at Division III Wittenberg in Springfield, OH for head coach Ray Mears and after graduating in 1961, became an assistant on Mears’ staff
- A year later, in 1962, he was named head coach and led the Tigers to a Runner-Up finish in the NCAA D-II Tournament
- Went 142-55 overall in eight seasons at his alma mater
- Moved up to Division I in 1970 when he was hired as the head coach at Western Michigan
- Went 86-68 in six seasons, improving the program up to winning 25 games and reaching the Sweet Sixteen in 1976
- Spent the next ten seasons as the head coach at Ohio State, winning 176 games during that tenure
- Went to NCAA Sweet Sixteen twice and claimed the 1986 NIT title
- Final head coaching job was a twelve-year tenure at Northern Iowa, where he won 164 games and went to one NCAAT
- Retired from coaching in 1998, but later came back to it as a volunteer assistant coach at Division II UNC Pembroke where his son, Ben Miller, became head coach in 2008; served in that capacity through the 2019-20 season
- Inducted into the Wittenberg Athletic Hall of Honor in 1986 and the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009
Eldon Miller Coaching Tree
- Randy Ayers (Philadelphia 76ers, Ohio State)
- Jim Cleamons (Dallas Mavericks, Youngstown State)
- Darian DeVries (West Virginia, Drake)
- Jerry Francis (Prairie View A&M)
- Bob Huggins (West Virginia, Kansas State, Cincinnati, Akron, Walsh)
- Brian Jones (Illinois State, North Dakota)
- Chuck Machock (UCF)
- Greg McDermott (Creighton, Iowa State, Northern Iowa, North Dakota State, Wayne State)
- Ben Miller (UNC Pembroke)
- Nick Nurse (Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors, RGV Vipers, Iowa Energy, others)
- Dick Shilts (KVCC, Western Michigan)
- Herb Williams (New York Knicks)
^ overall record includes head coaching positions at both the NCAA Division I and Division II levels