Matt Miller completes stellar career at UW-Oshkosh

• UW-Oshkosh point guard Matt Miller shoots a three-pointer

UW-Oshkosh point guard Matt Miller shoots a three-pointer in a game during the 2008-09 season. Miller made 255 three-pointers in his four-year career with the Titans, third highest all-time in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Submitted photo

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Ted Van Dellen, head coach of the UW-Oshkosh men’s basketball team, wishes Jim and Candy Miller had decided to have one more child. And that it was a boy.

The Millers’ son Nate was a standout guard for the Titans from 1999 to 2003.

Then Nate’s younger brother, Matt, arrived on campus in 2005 and continued the Miller family’s success on the hardwood.

“I told Jim, I just wish he and Candy had had one more boy so I could have gone a dozen years with them,” Van Dellen said in a phone call last week.

“Both Nate and Matt were just a treat,” he said. “When you go through coaching, you look for individuals like Nate and Matt, and you realize you’re not going to get a ton of those. And to have both those two was really enjoyable. I mean thoroughly enjoyable. Not just because of the two boys, but because of the whole Miller family.”

Matt, a 5-foot-9 point guard, made his final season with the Titans his best.

He made 92.7 percent (89-96) of his free throws in 2008-09 to become the WIAC career leader in free throw percentage. He surpassed Nate, now third on the list at 87.8 percent (172-196), and finished his four seasons in a Titan uniform with a 90 percent average (180-200).

From Dec. 20 to Feb. 7 he didn’t miss a free throw. His 53 consecutive-made free throws established new WIAC and UW-Oshkosh records.

Miller also led the WIAC in three-point shooting for the 2008-09 season, making 41.4 percent (94-227) of his shots from behind the arc. His 255 three-pointers for his career are third-highest in WIAC history.

“The thing that probably distinguished Matt among all point guards is his ability to shoot the basketball,” Van Dellen said. “(He has) just tremendous range.”

Miller’s competitive spirit and ball-handling skills also contributed to his success.

“People tried to post him up throughout his college career,” his coach said. “Never once did I feel like we were at a disadvantage because of his size, because he is such a fierce competitor.”

Van Dellen said that when opponents applied a full-court press, the Titans would put the ball in Miller’s hands and “let him do his thing.”

“It was just very tough to get him to turn it over,” Van Dellen said.

Miller also ranked first in the WIAC in minutes played (1,051) in 2008-09.

He started all 27 games for UW-Oshkosh this past season. He averaged 16.6 points, 3.5 three-point field goals, 2.1 assists and 1.7 rebounds per game. He shot 40.9 percent (133-325) from the field on the season.

Miller was named to the All-WIAC honorable mention team for the second year in a row at the completion of the season.

He played in 106 games during his UW-Oshkosh career and started in 53 of them. His career totals include 1,127 points, 131 assists and 78 steals.

Jim Miller, a 1972 graduate of Hudson High, also was standout basketball player. He was a starting guard on a Raider team that narrowly missed a trip to the state tournament in Madison.

Jim and Candy got well acquainted with Wisconsin following their sons to most of their WIAC games.

The Millers operate Miller Construction, a home building and remodeling company.

Nate Miller is the head boys basketball coach at Omro High School. Omro is located about 10 miles west of Oshkosh.

Matt is majoring in radio, TV and film at UW-Oshkosh.

Tags: sports, hudson, uw_oshkosh, mens, basketball, matt_miller