Riley Miller said he tried to focus on improvement in each of his four seasons as a Yorktown basketball player, not the accolades that might result from that improvement.
Miller said he finished his senior season with that sense of accomplishment. He averaged 11.1 points, 4.6 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game for the Tigers this season, leading his team in assists and steals and finishing second in each of the other two categories as Yorktown went 17-8, falling in double overtime in the sectional championship game.
That play earned Miller a spot on the Hoosier Basketball Magazine Top 100 Senior Boys list released Monday. He was the only player from Delaware County to be so honored. New Castle’s Kyle Bumbalough and Abe Haler also made the list, as did Blue River’s Noah Madison and Ball State signee Tahjai Teague (Pike).
“It was pretty exciting, obviously,” Miller said. “It’s a pretty cool acknowledgment. And it’s pretty cool you could say you’re one of the top 100 in the state.”
The list of the top 100 seniors is later pared down to 60 players who are invited to Hoosier Basketball Magazine’s annual Top 60 workout, which will be held on April 12 at Marian University. That workout is sometimes a last opportunity for undecided players to catch the attention of college coaches.
That wouldn’t be the case for Miller, if he were selected. He has elected to play football at Ball State as a preferred walk-on. He participates in football, basketball and track at Yorktown.
Miller is the son of Yorktown boys basketball coach and former Ball State basketball player Greg Miller. Riley Miller said he received some interest to play basketball in college, mostly at the Division III and NAIA level, but decided to pursue football instead.
“It was definitely a tough decision, I’d say,” Riley Miller said. “Basketball was in my life since I was a very little kid. It was definitely a tough decision, but I think I made the right one.”
Contact prep sports reporter Sam Wilson at (765) 213-5807. Follow him on Twitter @SamWilsonTSP.