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Coach Ralph Miller

Coach Ralph Miller

I would like to offer a short tribute to one of the best coaches ever to grace a sideline in college basketball, Coach Ralph Miller.

The late Coach Miller coached at Wichita State, University of Iowa and Oregon State University. Coach Miller gave the PAC-10 and Coach John Wooden (UCLA) fits while at OSU with lesser talent.

My research indicates that Coach Miller originated: 1) The 2-game offense (simplicity and execution), 2) Peer Pressure drills, and 3) Defense that was built on the principle of “surprise and change”.

Our staff at the University of New Mexico spent endless hours with Coach Miller and his staff, picking their brain regarding their system. Then, in 1980, we met an outstanding young high school coach by the name of Paul Halupa who played at the University of Oregon under the great Dick Harter. While playing at Oregon he began to study Coach Miller at their rival, Oregon State. Paul was a genius in his own right and there were people who felt that he came to know Ralph’s system better than Ralph himself!

Paul was invited to come to Albuquerque and spend time with our staff and our team, and he convinced us to adopt the “Miller Philosphy”. Paul was a wonderful teacher and put us on the path to another level of basketball. He helped us install the Peer Pressure Drills, as well as all the concepts of the 2-Game and the Defensive System.

The first time we did Peer Pressure Lay-ups it took us 25 minutes to make 20 in a row. Talk about peer pressure! It was wonderful to watch the interaction of the players because the drill became the bad guy and the coaching staff just encouraged and learned about each player. We never ran a peer pressure drill without a golden number of less than 20 in a row done correctly. It was a small miracle in my mind because we needed something to put the responsibility back on the players to govern.

Thank you Paul Halupa, the OSU coaching staff, and especially Coach Ralph Miller. You helped take the Lobos to another level.

Here is a great video of Coach Miller’s Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Speech:

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