Why is Cheryl Miller coaching at WNBA All-Star Game? Basketball icon leads team with Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese

The stars of today’s WNBA will shine on the court in Phoenix on Saturday night as Team USA takes on the WNBA All-Stars. Perhaps the brightest of them, however, will be on the sidelines in a coaching role.

Women’s basketball icon Cheryl Miller will coach the WNBA All-Star team tonight. Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Arike Ogunbowale and Aliyah Boston are among the players who will have the honor of playing under the USC sensation, at least for one game.

“What she’s done for us and paved the way for us to be here, we’re forever grateful for,” Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell said of Miller. “And I think we can do her justice by competing to the best of our ability.”

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Women’s basketball has seen a rapid rise in popularity over the past few seasons, thanks to the emergence of stars like Clark and Reese. But before those two were even born, Miller was the face of women’s basketball, dominating the game at the NCAA and international levels.

“Just to be in the same gym with her and be on the same sideline with her is an honor,” Connecticut Sun forward DeWanna Bonner said. “This is all because of her. She started this.”

Why exactly is Miller coaching the WNBA All-Star Game? The Sporting News explains.

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Why is Cheryl Miller coaching at the WNBA All-Star Game?

For Miller, the circle comes full circle on Saturday night.

She was named the Mercury’s first head coach in 1996 when the league was founded, and now she gets the chance to return to the same region where she coached for four seasons.

At first, Miller declined the invitation to lead the All-Star team. She had been out of coaching for a few seasons and wasn’t interested in getting back into it. Eventually, she came around to the idea of ​​maybe one exception.

“I mean, what coach on the planet wouldn’t want to be in this situation?” Miller said. “How cool is this?”

Miller will be joined on the sidelines by former Phoenix star Adrian Williams. On the other side is Team USA and Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve, who is coaching the 12 women who will travel to Paris next week to compete in the Olympic Games.

“I was excited, really excited,” Miller said. “Until I found out that the team I coach wants to take the brakes off the Olympic team. I was like, ‘OK, the pressure is on. Now we have a game, folks.'”

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Cheryl Miller coaching history

Miller began coaching after graduating from college at her alma mater, where she was an assistant coach for the Trojans from 1986 to 1991. She became a head coach in 1993 and coached for two seasons before taking a job in the WNBA.

Miller was named the first head coach of the Phoenix Mercury in 1996. She led the club for four seasons before stepping down in 2000.

In 2014, she was named head basketball coach at Langston University, an HBCU school in Oklahoma. Miller returned to the West Coast in 2016 when she was named head coach at Cal State LA.

Did Cheryl Miller play in the WNBA?

Miller is considered one of the best female basketball players of all time, but she never played in the WNBA.

The professional league didn’t exist when Miller graduated from USC, as the WNBA wasn’t founded until 1996. She likely would have played in the league had her career not been cut short by knee injuries.

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The phenom was a standout forward at USC, where she made a name for herself on the national stage. She helped the Trojans to two national championships, winning them all in 1983 and 1984. Her 3,018 career points rank 10th all-time in NCAA history, and her career rebounding record of 1,534 ranks third all-time in NCAA history.

Miller was named Naismith College Player of the Year three times and won the Wade Trophy (Player of the Year) once.

In addition to USC, Miller played for Team USA at the 1983 World Championships, where she won silver after losing to the USSR. In 1984, she helped the U.S. win an Olympic gold medal in Los Angeles. She played for the red, white and blue at the inaugural Goodwill Games in 1986, and she also represented the U.S. at the 1986 World Championships.