April 21, 2011
Miller's Year-By-Year Coaching Summary
CHICAGO - A proven head coach with strong recruiting ties in the state of Illinois, Regina Miller was named UIC's 11th head women's basketball coach pending Board of Trustees approval, Director of Athletics Jim Schmidt announced Thursday. Miller has 23 years of experience coaching in Division I women's basketball.
After compiling a stellar 175-125 mark in 10 seasons as the head coach at the University of Nevada Las Vegas and collecting 235 total collegiate victories, Miller will take over a program with three returning starters. In her coaching tenure, Miller has guided seven teams to the postseason, including NCAA Tournament berths at both Western Illinois and UNLV. Since leaving UNLV, Miller has worked in the private sector, consulting in the area of women's basketball.
"We had tremendous interest across the country for this job," said Schmidt. "Regina Miller has enjoyed great success as a head coach, has coached in the postseason and has extensive experience recruiting in the Midwest."
"We wanted a head coach that had great energy, was a good role model and that placed an emphasis on each player earning their degree from UIC. In Regina Miller, we found a coach that had the experience, character and work ethic that we were looking for, and it made for any easy decision to make her our next head coach. We know how challenging recruiting and winning in the Horizon League can be, and Regina will give us a chance to capture success."
Miller is anxious to return to the Midwest, and to join the UIC Athletic family.
"I'm excited about the opportunity to return to the state of Illinois with its great college sports traditions, and I welcome the challenge of leading the UIC Flames to the next level," said Miller. "The Horizon League has gained national exposure and is taking its rightful place among a select group of successful mid-major conferences that will continue to surprise people.
"During my coaching career, I've been fortunate to establish tremendous recruiting ties in the Midwest, and I've enjoyed seeing those efforts come to fruition through the success of many student-athletes on the basketball court and in their careers after graduation. I'm thrilled to be a part of the UIC family and work alongside some outstanding coaches under the direction of Jim Schmidt."
Miller led the Lady Rebels to the postseason in six-consecutive years (2001-06), the longest such stretch in program history. In 2004, Miller led UNLV to four wins in the WNIT, the most postseason wins in school history during a single campaign.
Miller inherited a team at UNLV that had won just four games during the 1997-98 season, and immediately turned the program around, posting back-to-back 17-win campaigns in her first two seasons. In 2002, the Lady Rebels went 23-8, and garnered an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament, the program's first appearance since 1994. Over a five-year span, Miller's squads at UNLV knocked off five Top-25 opponents.
In just her second season at Western Illinois (1993-94), Miller's team finished third in the Mid-Continent Conference, after finishing in ninth place the previous season. For her efforts, Miller was named the MCC Coach of the Year.
The following season (1994-95), Western Illinois set a school record for wins in a season (17) and conference victories (14) and captured the school's first-ever MCC Tournament title. The regular season conference champions garnered the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, and Miller was named the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) Coach of the Year.
In addition to Miller's experience at the college level, she has been an international coach as well. Miller also served as a court coach at the 2000 USA Basketball Women's Summer Development Camp in Colorado Springs, Colo. The camp developed not only the elite players in the United States, but also acted as the trials to select the U.S. Jones Cup team.
Miller was an assistant coach for the USA National Team at the 1997 World Championships Qualifier in Sao Palo, Brazil, and served as the floor coach for the U.S. Olympic Festival's North Team Tryouts in 1995.
Prior to becoming a head coach, Miller served assistant coaching stints at both Old Dominion (1987-92), her alma mater, and Arizona (1986-87). ODU experienced great success during Miller's tenure, advancing to the second-round of the NCAA Tournament in each of her first three years, along with a first-round appearance in 1992.
Prior to playing professionally for the Virginia Waves in 1984, Miller spent two years playing at Old Dominion helping lead the Lady Monarchs to the NCAA Final Four. Before her career at ODU, she played at Louisburg (N.C.) Junior College where she earned All-America honors twice, and led them to the JC national championship her freshman year in 1981.
Miller had her jersey retired at Louisburg at end of her career, and was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame last October. She will deliver a commencement speech at Louisburg's graduation ceremony on May 7.
Miller is a 1984 graduate of Old Dominion earning a bachelor's degree in recreation. She received her master's degree from Western Kentucky in 1986. She began her college coaching career with the Hilltoppers, serving as a graduate assistant coach from 1985-86.
