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Former Mitchell star Miller transfers to Dakota Wesleyan

Coach Hemenway

Jordan Miller

MITCHELL, S.D. – The Miller name has been synonymous with basketball at Dakota Wesleyan University for decades, and Tuesday, the Tigers announced that another member of Mitchell’s first family of basketball would wear the DWU Blue and White for the remainder of his college career.

Jordan Miller, a former Mitchell High School star, signed his official Letter of Intent Monday night to continue his collegiate career at Dakota Wesleyan. The 6-5 guard spent this season redshirting at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, Minn., so he will have a full four years of eligibility remaining beginning with the 2009-10 season.

Miller is the latest prize in head coach John Hemenway’s great recruiting class. Miller joins University of South Dakota transfer Tate Pesicka and high school standouts Matt Dykstra of Avon and Bo LaCroix of Hurley in the Tigers’ 2009-10 class. Hemenway said he’s thrilled Miller decided to return home to continue his basketball career, and he said his addition instantly adds depth and talent to the DWU backcourt.

“Jordan will be an outstanding addition to our basketball program for the next four years,” Hemenway said. “He can play all three guard spots and is a very good shooter. I am so excited to have Jordan and his family be a part of DWU basketball once again.”

Most local basketball fans are familiar with Miller’s impressive basketball resume. As a senior, he led Gary Munsen’s Kernel team to a 19-7 record, a district title and a spot in the Class “AA” State Championship game. Miller was an All-State First Team guard, the Mitchell Daily Republic Boy’s Basketball Player-of-the-Year and a member of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader Elite Five team.

As a senior, Miller averaged 16.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. He was a finalist for the Mr. Basketball award and the South Dakota Gatorade Player-of-the-Year award, as well as a member of the Class “AA” All-State Tournament Team and an All-ESD Conference selection.

At Dakota Wesleyan, Miller plans to major in business. He is the son of Shelly and Alan Miller of Mitchell. His father, Alan, was a four-year star at Dakota Wesleyan from 1981-1985. He is still the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,920 career points, and he was an All-American Second Team selection once and an All-American Honorable Mention pick twice. Alan Miller is also the Tigers’ career leader in field goals (1,154), free throws (609) and scoring average (26.3 ppg), and he led DWU to a pair of SDIC Championships. Alan Miller’s field goal and free throw totals are South Dakota collegiate records.

The family connections don’t stop there. Jordan’s uncles Tom and Chris Miller also starred at DWU, and he is the cousin of current Minnesota Timberwolves star Mike Miller. Jordan Miller joins former high school teammate Jordan Long on the DWU roster, giving Mitchell a pair of hometown stars to root for at the collegiate level.

Hemwenway’s latest signing has only increased the optimism swirling around the program. This season, the Tigers were 25-9 and they earned their third-straight trip to the NAIA Division II National Basketball Tournament. DWU was one win away from tying the school record, and it finished second in the GPAC regular-season standings and the postseason tournament. The Tigers finished the season ranked No. 14 in the NAIA DII Men’s Basketball Top 25 Coaches’ Poll.

Though three key seniors graduated from last year’s team, Hemenway will return two players who have earned All-America honors – forwards Preston Broughton and Brady Wiebe – along with All-GPAC guards Mitch Bain and Chase Walder and several other players who saw significant minutes last season. With the addition of this year’s recruiting class, Dakota Wesleyan hopes to continue its recent run of success in the 2009-10 season.