Brooks Miller, center, accepted an offer to serve as the men’s head basketball coach at Trine University. His job will begin April 4. From left are Trine University president Earl D. Brooks II, Ph.D., Miller and Trine University athletic director Jeff Posendek.

New head basketball coach starts April 4

 

 

ANGOLA, Ind. — Trine University is welcoming a new men's head basketball coach who has more than 11 years of collegiate basketball experience, including serving as a graduate assistant coach to Bob Knight, the winningest coach in NCAA Division I history.

Brooks J. Miller of Levelland, Texas, accepted an offer from Trine University Thursday morning. He worked as an assistant under several head coaches who garnered five national titles. He earned a Bachelor of Science from Hillsdale College and a master’s degree in exercise sport science from Texas Tech University.

“He brings a young, enthusiastic and energetic approach and attitude to our institution, which we are very excited about,” said Earl D. Brooks II, Ph.D., president of Trine. “Coach Knight and I had an opportunity to talk about Brooks over a year ago and he said that he was an excellent student of the game and was a rising star that will make a great head coach one day.”

Miller's basketball career started when he was a player at the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio and at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Mich. He was team captain, Academic All-Conference, team defensive player of the year and a two-time NCAA Division II National Tournament participant.

After college, Miller worked as the head assistant men's basketball coach at Hillsdale College. He coached and recruited five All-Conference players and worked as head of scouting and recruiting.

“Coach Miller's career experiences, knowledge of the game and education suit him for the job as the university's head basketball coach,” said Jeff Posendek, Trine’s athletic director. “He will be an asset to Trine, but even more so, to our student-athletes. His vision is not to just coach them on the floor, but throughout their college careers, in the classroom and in the community,”

In 2007, his career took him to Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, where he served as an assistant coach to Bob Knight and was involved with on-campus recruiting and player development. In 2009, he became the head assistant men's basketball coach and a faculty professor in physical education at South Plains College in Levelland. He also worked as the director of the Texan Basketball Camp and served as the national recruiting coordinator.

“My experience as a collegiate coach combined with my many years of recruiting

athletes has helped me develop a strong understanding of what it takes to motivate these young men to accomplish their goals at the highest level,” Miller said.

Miller intends to use his proven recruiting skills to enhance Trine's basketball program and bring top-notch student-athletes to play at Trine. He wants to continue to build on Trine's athletic successes in past years and be able to hang an NCAA Division III national title banner on the walls of Hershey Hall.

“I have a genuine passion for being a positive influence in the lives of the young men that I coach,” Miller said. “I am a tireless worker who can help guide their futures and mold them into successful graduates and ambassadors of Trine University.”