KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Western Michigan Athletics will induct the 2015 Hall of Fame class on Friday, Oct. 9 at the Fetzer Center and this week wmubroncos.com will take a look at each of our inductees: Vinton Bennett (men's track & field), Shelly Klare (women's basketball), Bob Learman (men's tennis), Eldon Miller (men's basketball), Robert Sanford (football) and Kelly Thayer (softball).
ELDON MILLER
A native of Gnadenhutten, Ohio, Miller became the head coach of the Western Michigan men's basketball team from 1970-76 and in that time turned the program into a conference and national contender. The 1976 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year, Miller guided the Broncos to a 25-3 finish in 1975-76, with the team earning a spot in the Sweet 16 and finishing the year with a #10 national ranking. Miller coached three WMU Athletics Hall of Famers in his tenure and went on to become head coach at Ohio State (1976-86) and Northern Iowa (1986-98).
Miller finished his career as one of the most accomplished coaches in WMU and MAC history, finishing with a record 86-68 for a .558 winning percentage. He went through just two losing seasons in his tenure and set the then-record of 25 wins in the 1975-76 season. It would be nearly 30 years before that mark was broken by the 2003-04 Broncos who went 26-5. Of the numerous fantastic players under Miller's charge in those years, the troika of Tom Cutter, Paul Griffin and Jeff Tyson were all selected in the NBA Draft.
Q & A with Eldon Miller
Q: You coached what is arguably the greatest team in Western Michigan history, the 1975-76 team that went 25-3 and finished ranked 10th in the nation. How did that season come together?
A: It's not a terribly complicated answer. I had a wonderful staff in assistants Dick Shilts and Rich Walker who worked extremely hard in recruiting, and we got great assistance from administration from people like Pat Clysdale and Joe Hoy. We were able to put together a unique group of young people.
I've had the opportunity to be a part of 50 or more teams as either a coach or player in my lifetime, and people ask me which one was the best. There are really only three or so candidates and this is one of them. That 1975-76 team was really what this game is all about. Former Marquette head coach Al McGuire said we were the best interior passing team he'd ever seen. Tom Cutter and Paul Griffin were probably the equal of any tandem in college basketball at that time. They just had tremendous basketball intellects. Jeff Tyson was the MAC Player of the Year and he went on to play professionally for a few years.
Those three were all on the All-MAC team, and quite honestly our point guard Jim Kurzen should have been as well. He was the best point guard in the league that year. I could probably count on two hands the number of times someone got around him over the course of four years. He was a great competitor, a great leader, and an unselfish player. Those kind of people make coaching fun.
The thing that stands out most about that team is how much they enjoyed playing the game. They were very competitive and a lot of fun to coach.
Q: What memory of your time at Western Michigan sticks out the most to you?
A: There were some magic moments on the court, especially with that 1975-76 team, so many so it would be hard to pick one out. I've always been more into the people and what they stood for than just the moments in time.
One that sticks out to me was when I recruited S.L. Sales. He didn't play much but worked as hard as anyone I ever had and contributed a very positive attitude. His father was a blue-collar guy, a steel worker, and during the recruitment process we went out to dinner and S.L. invited his father. He refused but S.L. wouldn't have it. “No Dad, you're coming along with us. You're as much a part of this as anyone.” I'll never forget that.
On the court, I remember that we had a lot of depth on that 1975-76 team. It wasn't unusual for us to play 11 people in the first half. It was a special group. Near the end of the year we lost a game to Notre Dame and had to play at Miami for the MAC championship two days later. We were able to pull it out and advance to the tournament.
Q: After coaching at Wittenberg for so long, what fueled your move to Western Michigan?
A: Frankly, I looked forward to the challenge of it. Several people told me before I made the move that winning in the MAC would be difficult. I said, if you have guys that want to play together, they can beat anyone in basketball. The MAC was a big part of my life growing up in Ohio and I followed the great basketball programs and their traditions. We played those programs when I was a student-athlete at Wittenberg and I knew a lot about them.
When Joe Hoy invited me to campus and I had the chance to hear Pat Clysdale's aspirations for the program, and how important it was to him, it became a natural fit for me. It wasn't easy at first, but there were good people here like Chuck Washington, Earl Jenkins, Earnest Pettis and John Sperla. Those guys raised the bar of expectations and got us moving in the right direction.
Q: What was your reaction to hearing you were inducted into the WMU Athletics Hall of Fame?
A: When I got the call, my first thought was that the entire 1975-76 team belonged in the Hall of Fame, moreso than me. I will always treasure the fact that I'm in it, but when one of the former players called to congratulate me, I told him that there's never been more of a team award than this one.
Q: What advice would you give to the current generation of players that want to be coaches?
A: Naturally a lot of young people talk to me about that, and I tell them their passion has to be bigger than the game itself. I love basketball because it requires a lot of things that are needed to be a good citizen, as well. Both ask you to show cohesion, will power and sacrifice. The game teaches you not just how to handle adversity, but also how to handle success in a mature manner. It's not a moment, it's a way of life, and I'm afraid too many people get away from that.
The game of basketball isn't just about individual talent, though of course that is a factor. Everyone is important, from the athletic trainer, the manager, the assistant coach, the 12th man, all the way to the player that scores the most points. Again, this is true in a lot of endeavors.
The best way to distill it is if you want to be a basketball coach, you need to have a passion for the game that goes beyond being rewarded for being successful. That can't be what defines you. You need to have a true love for the challenge of the game.
