Curt Miller
Curt Miller (born October 6, 1968)[2] is an American basketball coach, currently the head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA. He previously served as the head coach of the Connecticut Sun from 2016-2022 and Bowling Green State University from 2001–2012 and Indiana University from 2012–2014, and spent one season as an assistant to Brian Agler with the Los Angeles Sparks.
.jpg.webp) Miller in 2019 | |
| Los Angeles Sparks | |
|---|---|
| Position | Head coach |
| League | WNBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born | October 5, 1968[1] Girard, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| College | Baldwin Wallace |
| Career history | |
| As coach: | |
| 1991–1994 | Cleveland State (assistant) |
| 1994–1998 | Syracuse (assistant) |
| 1998–2001 | Colorado State (assistant) |
| 2001–2012 | Bowling Green |
| 2012–2014 | Indiana |
| 2015 | Los Angeles Sparks (assistant) |
| 2016–2022 | Connecticut Sun |
| 2023–present | Los Angeles Sparks |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| miller Stats at WNBA.com | |
Assistant coaching career
Miller served as an assistant coach at Colorado State, helping the school to an 81-20 (.802) overall record during his three seasons there. He also served as an assistant at Cleveland State and Syracuse.
On March 31, 2015, the Los Angeles Sparks hired Miller as an assistant coach.[3]
Head coaching career
Bowling Green
During his tenure at Bowling Green he compiled a 258–92 record including 135–41 in the Mid-American Conference. He was named MAC Coach of the Year 6 times, and won the conference regular season title 8 straight times between 2005–2012. His best season came in 2006 when he led the Falcons to a 31–4 mark, including a sweet sixteen appearance in the NCAA tournament.
Indiana University
When Miller was negotiating a contract extension with Bowling Green in 2005, he included a "dream clause" in which Miller could list a few of his personal destination jobs.[4] The Indiana Hoosiers were on that list and, when an opening for head women's basketball coach occurred at the school in 2012, he applied for and got the position. Miller signed a six-year deal worth $275,000 a year. Miller resigned on July 25, 2014 citing health and family reasons.[5]
Connecticut Sun
After one season as an assistant with the Los Angeles Sparks, Miller returned to the head coaching ranks. He was announced as the new head coach of the Connecticut Sun on December 17, 2015.[6] In his second season with the Sun in 2017 he was named WNBA coach of the year.[7] While working with the Sun, Miller was "the first openly gay, male coach in college or professional basketball".[8] His 2019 team made the WNBA finals but lost to the Washington Mystics in the five games.[9] The Sun were knocked out in the Semifinals in 2020. His 2021 team finished the regular season in first place with a 26–6 record.[10] but were upset in the Semifinals by the Chicago Sky.[11] He was named WNBA coach of the year for the second time in 2021.[12]
Head Coaching Record
NCAA
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bowling Green Falcons (Mid-American Conference) (2001–2012) | |||||||||
| 2001–02 | Bowling Green | 9–19 | 6–10 | 4th (East) | |||||
| 2002–03 | Bowling Green | 12–16 | 5–11 | T-6th (West) | |||||
| 2003–04 | Bowling Green | 21–10 | 11–5 | T-2nd (West) | |||||
| 2004–05 | Bowling Green | 23–8 | 11–5 | 1st (West) | NCAA 1st Round | ||||
| 2005–06 | Bowling Green | 28–3 | 16–0 | 1st (East) | NCAA 1st Round | ||||
| 2006–07 | Bowling Green | 31–4 | 16–1 | 1st (East) | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 2007–08 | Bowling Green | 26–8 | 13–3 | 1st (East) | WNIT Second Round | ||||
| 2008–09 | Bowling Green | 29–5 | 15–1 | 1st (East) | WNIT Third Round | ||||
| 2009–10 | Bowling Green | 27–7 | 14–2 | 1st (East) | NCAA 1st Round | ||||
| 2010–11 | Bowling Green | 28–5 | 13–3 | 1st (East) | NCAA 1st Round | ||||
| 2011–12 | Bowling Green | 24–7 | 14–2 | 1st (East) | WNIT First Round | ||||
| Bowling Green: | 258–92 (.737) | 135–41 (.767) | |||||||
| Indiana Hoosiers (Big Ten Conference) (2012–2014) | |||||||||
| 2012–13 | Indiana | 11–19 | 2–14 | 12th | |||||
| 2013–14 | Indiana | 21–13 | 5–11 | T-8th | WNIT Quarterfinals | ||||
| Indiana: | 32–32 (.500) | 7–25 (.219) | |||||||
| Total: | 290–124 (.700) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
WNBA
| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
| Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connecticut Sun | 2016 | 34 | 14 | 20 | .412 | 5th in East | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
| Connecticut Sun | 2017 | 34 | 21 | 13 | .618 | 2nd in East | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost in Eastern Conference Semi-Finals |
| Connecticut Sun | 2018 | 34 | 21 | 13 | .618 | 3rd in East | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost in Eastern Conference Semi-Finals |
| Connecticut Sun | 2019 | 34 | 23 | 11 | .676 | 2nd in East | 8 | 5 | 3 | .625 | Lost in WNBA Finals |
| Connecticut Sun | 2020 | 22 | 10 | 12 | .455 | 2nd in East | 7 | 4 | 3 | .571 | Lost in Semifinals |
| Connecticut Sun | 2021 | 32 | 26 | 6 | .813 | 1st in East | 4 | 1 | 3 | .250 | Lost in Semifinals |
| Connecticut Sun | 2022 | 36 | 25 | 11 | .694 | 2nd in East | 12 | 6 | 6 | .500 | Lost in WNBA Finals |
| Los Angeles Sparks | 2023 | 40 | 17 | 23 | .425 | 4th in West | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
| Career | 262 | 153 | 109 | .584 | 33 | 16 | 17 | .485 |
Los Angeles Sparks
References
- "NCAA® Career Statistics". Web1.ncaa.org. 1999-03-20. Retrieved 2015-11-19.
- "Women's Basketball Coaches Career". NCAA. Retrieved 22 Sep 2015.
- "Sparks Name Curt Miller Assistant Coach". Archived from the original on 2015-05-04. Retrieved 2015-04-02.
- Hutchens, Terry (29 March 2012). "Indiana women's basketball: New coach Curt Miller has winning history". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
- "Indiana women's coach Curt Miller suddenly resigns". Courier-journal.com. 2014-07-25. Retrieved 2015-11-19.
- "It's Official: Connecticut Sun Name Curt Miller Head Coach". Hartford Courant. 2015-12-17. Archived from the original on 2015-12-18. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
- "Sun's Curt Miller named 2017 WNBA Coach of the Year". NBA. 10 September 2017. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
- Crowley, Brendan (August 17, 2021). "Two Decades Later, Coach Curt Miller Still Stands Alone". CT Examiner. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
- "Mystics take title in Game 5 behind Elena Delle Donne, Finals MVP Emma Meesseman". espn.com. The Associated Press. October 10, 2019. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
- "WNBA Standings 2021". ESPN. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
- "Vandersloot leads Sky to 101-95 double OT win over Sun". ESPN. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
- "Connecticut Sun Head Coach Curt Miller Named 2021 Coach Of the Year". WNBA. Retrieved 2022-06-12.