Ralph Miller

Ralph Miller (1919-2001)

Teams coached: Wichita Shockers, Iowa Hawkeyes, Oregon State Beavers
Wichita State record: 220-133 (.623)
Iowa record: 95-51 (.651)
Oregon State: 342-198 (.633) **
Overall record: 657-382 (.832) **

Career Accomplishments:

• NCAA National Championships:  0
• NCAA Tournament Appearances:  7  (1964, 1970, 1975, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989) **
• NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen:  3  (1964, 1970, 1975) **
• NCAA Tournament Final Four:  0
• NIT Championships:  0
• NIT Appearances:  6  (1954, 1962, 1963, 1979, 1983, 1987)
• Pac-12 Regular Season Champion:  4  (1980, 1981, 1982, 1984)
• Big Ten Regular Season Champion:  2  (1968, 1970)
• Missouri Valley Regular Season Champion:  1  (1964)

Awards:

• AP Coach of the Year:  2  (1981, 1982)
• NABC Coach of the Year:  1  (1981)
• Sporting News Coach of the Year:  1  (1982)
• Henry Iba Award:  1  (1981)
• UPI Coach of the Year:  1  (1981)
• Pac-12 Coach of the Year:  2  (1981, 1989)
• Missouri Valley Coach of the Year:  1  (1954)
• NABC Golden Anniversary Award (1997)
• Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 1988)
• National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 2006)

Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):

1970-1989	Oregon State
1964-1970	Iowa
1951-1964	Wichita

Ralph Miller Facts

• Ralph H. Miller
• Born March 9, 1919
• Died May 15, 2001
• Hometown: Chanute, Kansas
• Alma Mater: University of Kansas (BA, 1942)
• Played for legendary head coach Phog Allen at Kansas, while also playing football (QB) and competing in track and field
  • Sat in on a guest lecture from basketball creator Dr. James Naismith while in undergrad at KU
• Spent three years in the US Army Air Forces working mostly desk jobs due to nagging knee problems
• Started coaching in 1949 at East High School in Wichita, KS, spending three years as the school; forming the innovative Pressure Basketball System he would use throughout his career, Miller’s team won a state title in his third and final year
• Hired in 1951 at Wichita, coaching the Shockers for thirteen seasons, winning 220 games and going to three NITs and one NCAA Tournament
• Spent the next six seasons in the Big Ten at Iowa, winning 95 games with the Hawkeyes and winning two conference titles
• Miller’s final and longest tenure was a nineteen-year run as the head coach at Oregon State, winning four Pac-8/Pac-10 titles and going to the NCAA Tournament eight times (three were later vacated)
  • Miller won several national coach of the year awards at Oregon State and was twice named the conference’s top coach
  • The most successful run was between 1979 and 1982, when the Beavers had an overall record of 77-11, won three straight conference titles and earned the nickname “The Orange Express”
    • Unfortunately, those teams were later found to have included ineligible players and all three NCAAT appearances have since been vacated
  • Also lost 15 wins from the 1975-76 season after it was found that a player had signed with an agent while still in school
• Miller retired following the 1988-89 season at the age of 70, finishing his career with an official record of 657-382
  • The floor at Oregon State’s Gill Coliseum is named “Ralph Miller Court” in his honor
  • His alma mater – Chanute High School – also named their gym after him

Ralph Miller Coaching Tree

• Jim Anderson (Oregon State)
• David Leach (Boise State)
• Dick Schultz (Iowa)
• Gary Thompson (Wichita State)
• Lanny Van Eman (Arkansas)

 

** Listed accomplishments for this coach do not include wins or appearances later vacated by the NCAA