We’ve been talking about this one for the past few days in our Daily Dirt. It’s now been made official…
Former New Mexico Junior College head coach James Miller has joined the Omaha men’s basketball coaching staff as an assistant coach, head coach Derrin Hansen announced Thursday.
Miller has spent the last three years as the head coach at New Mexico JC, where 17 of his players have signed for NCAA Division I scholarships. His signees have gone on to successful playing careers in programs including Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, TCU and NC State, among others. Miller’s junior college charges have also included current Maverick guard Devin Patterson and former Omaha guard Alex Phillips (2012-14).
In his three seasons at the helm of the NMJC program, Miller compiled an outstanding career record of 76-23. Under his leadership, the Thunderbirds secured two consecutive trips to the NJCAA National Tournament and won a Region V championship. Before taking the head coaching position, Miller also served as an assistant coach at the school for three seasons.
A native of Colorado, Miller previously worked as an assistant coach at CSU Pueblo under current Maverick assistant coach Pat Eberhart from 2005 to 2009. Prior to that, Miller served as an intern for the Arizona State program and was a student manager at Colorado State.
“We’re excited for James Miller to join our staff here at Omaha,” Hansen said. “He brings a lot of experience developing Division I-caliber student-athletes, as he has had numerous players sign to high-major and mid-major schools over his career. Coach Miller is highly respected among his peers and other Division I coaches who have signed his players.
“We’re also very familiar with Coach Miller ourselves, as we’ve had two of his former players in our program and know him through his prior coaching relationship with assistant coach Pat Eberhart. He’ll be a great fit and a tremendous addition to our program, and his head coaching experience will be valuable to our staff.”
Miller earned his bachelor’s degree in health promotion from Colorado State in 2005 and his master’s degree in sports administration from Northern Colorado in 2007.
Photo Courtesy Nebraska Omaha Athletics
