April 16, 2012
CHICAGO - UIC head men's basketball coach Howard Mooreannounced the addition of a pair of transfer guards to the Flames' program Monday. Joining UIC will be former Eastern Illinois standout Joey Miller, and Jay Parker, who attended Highland Community College last season after a stellar career at Thornton High School.
"We're extremely excited to welcome both Joey (Miller) and Jay (Parker) to our program," said Moore. "We're getting two guys that have deep basketball roots, and that can do multiple things on the floor. Both guys are tremendous students, and have a great passion for the game. Our fans will enjoy watching them play over the next few years."
The son of former EIU head coach Mike Miller, the 6-foot-3 Joey Miller will have three years of eligibility with the Flames. As a freshman last season, he averaged 10.4 points, 2.9 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game. Miller started 24 contests as EIU's point guard, recording 15 double-digit scoring outputs. The Panthers' second leading scorer, Miller was named the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) Freshman of the Week on three occasions.
"Joey is the son of a coach, and has a great understanding of the game," Moore said. "He was one of the top freshmen in the Ohio Valley Conference last season, and enters our program as a very experienced guard. He'll provide us some great versatility, with his ability to play both the point guard and shooting guard positions. Joey is going to be a great addition to our program will be a very good player in the Horizon League."
On Feb. 11 at Tennessee-Martin, Miller poured in an EIU freshman record 28 points. He finished the season ranked 10th in the OVC in assists (83) and eighth overall in free throw percentage (.820). Miller dished out at least four assists in eight individual games. Miller attended Charleston High School, where he averaged 21.3 points per game as a senior (2010-11).
Parker, a 5-foot-10 point guard, starred at Highland Community College in Freeport, Ill., last season, completing his first year of eligibility. He played his high school basketball at Thornton, leading the Wildcats to a 26-3 record and a trip to the sectional finals as a senior (2010-11).
"My relationship with Jay and his family goes back to my days at Wisconsin," said Moore. "We're excited about Jay joining our team, because he is going to add immediate depth to our backcourt. He is a true point guard with great vision, and has a very good mid-range game. Defensively, he works extremely hard, and we're looking forward to him bringing that mentality to our team next season."
Last season, Parker averaged 9.0 points, 5.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game in leading Highland C.C. to 26-8 record, and the Region IV Championship. Parker comes from a basketball family - his older brother, Josh, was a senior guard at Dayton last season.
