Jordan Miller has been the quintessential glue guy this year for Miami. The fifth-year senior ranks second on the team in points, rebounds, assists and steals per game and has been a veteran leader for the Hurricanes.
Miller wasn’t always this caliber of a player. He was a late bloomer, but that didn’t stop Miller – then a 5-foot-9 sophomore at Loudoun Valley High School – from pursuing basketball at the next level.
“What was nice about it though is that I was playing point guard a lot because I was one of the smallest dudes on my team, and then sophomore year I shot up,” Miller told LifeWallet Sports. “Next thing you know, I’m blocking peoples’ shots off the backboard; I’m dunking. That growth spurt in 10th grade that got me to 6-foot-3 allowed me to kind of play above the rim which college coaches love.”
Miller’s college recruiting process wasn’t the flashiest. He was never the sought-after 5-star prospect that had Power Five college coaches blowing up his phone. His first offer was from Millersville University, a Division II program that’s located 84 miles west of Philadelphia.
He received his first Division I offer from George Mason, a program that made an unlikely run to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament in 2006 under then-head coach Jim Larrañaga.
Miller was also recruited by schools like Radford, Wofford and Campbell. He ended up going to George Mason after a sensational high school career. In his time at Loudoun Valley, Miller led the Vikings to a 92-5 record and their first-ever state championship in his junior year.
At George Mason, Miller established himself as one of the best players in the Atlantic 10 (A-10) conference. He was a star in his junior year, averaging a team-high 15.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Miller was also recognized on the A-10 Third Team.
Miller’s future became murky after this season, as the Patriots fired head coach Dave Paulsen, who had previously recruited him to play for George Mason.
Miller decided to enter the transfer portal, as did many college players after the COVID-stricken 2020-21 season.
That’s when Larrañaga, the all-time winningest head coach in George Mason’s program history, entered the picture for Miller.
“UM was the first school to reach out after I entered the transfer portal when my coach got fired, and Larrañaga being at George Mason before, it felt kind of [like] we were gonna be taking similar paths,” Miller said. The way the presentation, the way they cared just not about basketball but about me and the way I knew we could put pieces together, we could have a good team and we got to the Elite Eight that year so obviously they weren’t wrong, and I wasn’t wrong for trusting my intuition but that’s what got me there. They just really cared more than any other school.”
Even with this rather seamless transition to UM, Miller’s time with the Hurricanes started off rocky.
In UM’s first eight games of the 2021-22 season, Miller struggled, averaging only 4.6 points per game on a 42% clip from the field, which caused Larrañaga to utilize Miller off the bench as opposed to in the starting lineup. This was a role that Miller was not used to, as he started 66 of his 69 games at George Mason.
“I really was struggling to figure out how I was gonna be able to help the team. Like I said in a lot of interviews, I doubted how hard it was gonna be to transfer in somewhere. I thought it was gonna be easy but it really wasn’t. That was probably, definitely the most tough time I’ve had in my basketball career,” Miller said. “I was supposed to be [a starter] I remember and then the first four games I really wasn’t doing anything so then they added Rodney Miller [Jr.] to the starting lineup. Coming from averaging 15 [points] to not starting is like ‘woah’.”
Added Miller, “It’s not even just basketball, it’s about your comfort. You’re getting to know new people, new staff, new students. So I think once you kind of settle in, and I think most transfers start playing well once January hits, you kind of know your role, what it’s gonna be like, where your shots are gonna come from. It becomes a lot easier. It’s something that I feel like transfers need to know more about. No one really talks about it in a way.”
Miller found his groove in the ninth game of the season against Clemson. He scored 13 points against the Tigers and made some important baskets down the stretch to help UM secure the close win.
From then on, Miller’s career at Miami has been nothing short of extraordinary. He was an integral part of the Hurricanes’ Elite Eight run last season and is a contender to receive All-ACC honors at this year’s conclusion.
Miller and the Hurricanes will return to action in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament on Thursday at noon.
