Riley Miller enjoys success in his junior year
ST. PAUL, M.N. — The junior season for St. Thomas鈥� sharpshooter Riley Miller has been good to him.
Miller had a career-high 30 points in a win earlier this year and is averaging 19 points per game for St. Thomas. This is all great for his personal success, but the team is also enjoying a nice season in their first Division I year with three wins and four losses so far. It has truly been a hot start for both St. Thomas and Miller who were not expected to compete like this after being promoted.
Miller is in his third year, but he has had a good career at St. Thomas the entire time he has been playing there. As a freshman, he was named to the 2019 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference First-Year team and as a sophomore, he was named a member of the MIAC second team All-Conference team. Now in his junior season, he is on a clear path to being named as a first team selection.
Coming out of high school, Miller had various options to take in his college career but decided to stay local and go to St. Thomas. He grew up in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, but decided on St. Thomas for various other reasons.
鈥�(It鈥檚 a) great business school, great location, (and it) offered me a challenge academically and athletically,” Miller .
While it had been a challenge in his first two seasons athletically, Miller is proving himself wrong in his third year. He has been truly dominant on the court which has led to this team being successful so far. Before the season, Miller was named as an All-American for all of Division III basketball in the country. Only 15 players were given that preseason honor in the nation. This recognition came after Miller and St. Thomas had an undefeated year in a condensed season last year due to COVID-19. Miller also received the 2020-21 West Region Player of the Year award.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a good feeling,鈥� he . 鈥淚t鈥檚 a testament to my teammates because I probably wouldn鈥檛 have gotten it if we weren鈥檛 as good as we were this season. This year my confidence has grown a lot. I鈥檝e felt like I had the confidence to take more shots and I want to carry that over to next year.鈥�
An undefeated season last year was enough to get St. Thomas promoted to the Division I level for this year and they have shown they deserve it as they are currently competing and winning games in the higher conference. They are taking part in the Summit League Conference and have yet to begin conference play, but it has been promising for them so far in preseason play.
St. Thomas has even begun to snag some top talent from Minnesota to join their new Division I basketball program such as Ahjany Lee who had scholarship offers from the University of Minnesota and Kansas.
It seems to all be up from here for Miller and St. Thomas as we see what else is in store for them in their first Division I basketball season.
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