Gold Rush: Miller Breaks Back Into Lineup
12/5/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 5, 2002
By Sam Walker
Heather Miller has watched virtually every move of the Wake Forest women's basketball program from the unfamiliar sidelines for two years. Miller isn't used to watching, or being on the sidelines. She doesn't want to be. The senior forward from Bassett, Va., is still the all-time leading scorer, male or female, at Bassett High School. One can't do that from the bench. But stress fractures, first in her foot and later in her back, all but forced Miller off the court for two seasons. This year she's back and ready to settle into a familiar role as a contributor and back out of the role she created for herself when her body wouldn't allow her to play.
Miller grew up on a large family cattle farm bailing hay and working in the garden. She said she was always picking beans or shelling peas right along with her parents and three brothers. Her older brother, John, played football at Duke University and is a recent graduate. John played on the offensive line and is about 6-7 and 340 pounds. He was the one Heather always tried to "keep up with" athletically. Her younger brothers, Timmy and Andrew, are both football players and wrestlers like their brother John. Heather is the one who loved basketball.
Her parents, Johnny and Linda Miller, provided the perfect balance for the sports-minded family. Heather said her dad would give critical analysis of her play (tell her what she did wrong), and her mother would be the supportive encourager. Heather called her father "the best coach she's ever had," and her basketball career began shortly after winning the Elks National Free Throw Competition.
By the time she finished her high school career, Miller was a USA Today All-American and was named Virginia's State Player of the Year in 1998. But after arriving at Wake Forest, Miller never really got the chance to show what she could do. She averaged 8.4 minutes and 3.6 points per game as a freshman and thought her sophomore year would be the year she could take a big step as a player on the collegiate level.
At the beginning of her sophomore season, Miller missed the first two games and part of preseason practices because of stress fractures in her foot. Her unavailability never really allowed her got settled into a playing rotation or find a role, and her injury limited her. So her plans to make an impact were delayed for a year, which motivated her to work even harder.
"I worked really hard my sophomore summer and thought I was going to come back and be strong, and it turned out that I must have worked too hard because I had five stress fractures in my back," Miller said. "They sent me to a chiropractor, and he wasn't sure what was going on. Then I started having muscle spasms and couldn't bend over and pass, so we had to get CAT scans and MRIs."
Medical evaluations showed Miller had stress fractures in her third and fourth lumbar (lower back) with pars fractures on the sides and one stress fracture on the back of her spine. It was soon evident that Miller would have sit out her entire junior season. She iced her back and used a stem current therapy to help heal the stress fractures. She did a lot of pool workouts before practices, a lot of stretching and a lot of crunches and back exercises.
"Coach (Larry) Leonard would pick on me saying I was going to be on the swim team and not the basketball team because I would spend so much time in the pool," Miller said. "I was optimistic for the season, and it was disappointing to find out you're not going to be in it for a year. My goal was really to come out healthy and see what I could do. But I came out hurt, I never got off to a good start, and it was really unfortunate. But I tried not to focus too much on that and tried to find a new role on the team. I just set goals to help other people and did as much as I could to stay in it. I did everything I could except play. But it's not fun to watch at all."
Miller said she created a new role for herself on the team. She looked at charted goals that coaches and players set and helped encourage her teammates in achieving those goals in practices and in games. She kept a positive attitude, encouraged others from the bench, and during practices she was working to rehabilitate her body just as hard as others were practicing. Miller's positive attitude and commitment was recognized by her teammates and coaches, who voted her a team captain this season.
"Heather provides a positive role model for our team," coach Charlene Curtis of Wake Forest said. "She's very supportive although she sat on the sideline for two years with injuries. She knows what we want done, whether she can do it or be on the sidelines she's very encouraging of her teammates.
"It was hard for her to sit. Here's a kid who was player of the year in her state and was used to scoring a lot of points. She knew it would be a faster-paced game (in college), and she would have to adjust her game, and she has done that. It's just that she hasn't played in two years. But she's practiced very well, and it's really good to have her back."
Two games into the 2002-03 season, Miller is back on the court as a starter and averaging 3.5 points and 2 rebounds per outing, meager numbers for a player who once averaged almost 24 points and 9 rebounds per game. But numbers can improve, and Miller's playing time has averaged only 16.7 minutes per game. And by Jan.2, when the Deacons open conference play against Florida State, Miller may well be scoring in double-digits.
Miller had a CAT scan just before the start of this season, which showed two of the five stress fractures were healing, but that the others had not yet healed. Doctors have assured her that she can do no further damage, and that her back will heal with extended rest and care, which won't come until after the season is over.
"Now, I feel pretty good. I think with every week I am progressing, and I still have some medications to take at nighttime," Miller said. "But in the games I never think about it because my focus is elsewhere. The pain is nothing what I felt like a year ago. So I don't remember what it feels like not to ache, but I'm thinking this might be normal.
"It's a whole different perspective, and there's a lot you can learn when you're watching from the sideline. I know what it looks like and know what I have to offer. But I don't think I'll ever forget how to shoot and I hustle just as hard. So I think I'll be getting better as the season goes along."
Miller is listed a senior, but because of her injuries has one more year of eligibility available. Miller said she would wait and see how her back heals, how this season goes, and then she and Curtis will sit down together and discuss whether or not she will take post-graduate courses and play one more season.
"She's going to play and has been playing well," Curtis said. "She's shooting the ball very, very well, and she's a smart player and plays so hard. She's very much a team person. She shoots the three very well, is a good passer and will get you rebounds. She talks on defense, she's not as quick, but gets in the right place at the right time. Getting her back gives us some maturity on the floor. We have juniors playing a lot, some freshmen playing a lot, so we have to have some senior leadership."
Miller wants to provide all that and more.