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Poly alumni Reggie and Cheryl Miller recently became the first brother-sister duo in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
HOOPIN’: Poly alumni Reggie and Cheryl Miller create a basketball legacy.
by Chase Ballard, Staff Writer
Reginald “Reggie” Miller (Poly class of 1983) and Cheryl Miller (Poly class of 1982), whose jerseys are both currently hanging in the gym of Poly High School, are the first brother-sister pair to both be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Five-time NBA All-Star Reggie joined his sister Cheryl, who was enshrined in 1995, during the 2012 induction. Reggie and Cheryl were really close during childhood; they would play one-on-one pick-up basketball games in the street together. Cheryl always seemed to beat Reggie until he grew to a height of six foot seven inches and could finally block her shots (Cheryl is only six foot two inches).
Cheryl is exceedingly talented, as shown by her outstanding career from high school through the Olympic Games and professional basketball. At Poly, she led her team to an astonishing 132-4 record. For her accomplishments, Cheryl earned the Dial Award, naming her the national high school scholar-athlete of the year in 1981. She also broke state records for points scored in a single season (1156 points) and points scored in a high school career (3405 points). Cheryl attended USC where she was a four-time All-American and three-time Naismith College Player of the Year. She earned three Olympic gold medals and had a short-lived professional career before knee injuries prevented her from playing further.
Reggie Miller did not live in the shadow of his sister; he made a name for himself and carved his own path to stardom. He was the leading scorer throughout his high school career and was named an All-Ivy League and All-CIF Player as well as Riverside County Co-Player of the Year during his senior year at Poly. He then played at UCLA and became one of the best three-point shooters in the history of the game, scoring the second most points in all-time by a single player. Reggie led the Bruins to the Pac-10 championship as a senior and finished with single-season records for most league points, highest scoring average and most free throws. He won an Olympic gold medal at the 1996 Olympics and another gold medal at the 1994 FIBA World Championships.
The Indiana Pacers selected Reggie Miller with the 11th overall pick in the first round of the 1987 NBA draft. He established himself as the primary scoring threat for the Pacers after Chuck Person was traded during the 1992 offseason. Reggie still holds the record for most points in a single game for the Pacers, with 57 points. Over his 18 year NBA career, Miller played in 1,389 games and made 2,560 three-pointers—which was the NBA record until Ray Allen broke it last year.
With an abundance of success and talent, Reggie and Cheryl Miller have always fed off each other for motivation and inspiration.
“I can still hear her screaming in my ear,” Reggie told The Press Enterprise shortly after he had called Cheryl to tell her that he was being inducted into the Hall of Fame. While the siblings had different experiences in the professional world, their experiences are interconnected by a burning passion for the sport of basketball.
photo courtesy of backhomeagain07.wordpress.com