Rookie plays starring role in Big East

Dane Miller raced down the court at Freedom Hall, put one hand behind his head a delivered a tomahawk jam. Then he flashed a smile.
That’s just the way Miller plays.
“I definitely feel like my confidence is growing with each game,” Miller said after the Rutgers men’s basketball team had its two-game winning streak snapped in a 76-60 defeat to Louisville. “I’m just coming out trying to play and have fun.”
Miller threw down four highlight-reel slam dunks as part of his game-high 17 points against the Cardinals.
The 6-foot-7 freshman earned his reward yesterday with Big East Rookie of the Week honors for the first time this season.
Miller averaged 11 points and seven rebounds per game during a 1-1 week for the Scarlet Knights. He scored five points and added seven rebounds in a victory over St. John’s.
Miller leads all Big East freshmen in scoring during league play with 12.5 points per game.
“Dane’s one of the most improved [players],” said junior forward Jonathan Mitchell. “He’s still a freshman and he’s still going to have his bumps in the road, but he’s growing and that’s what you want to see from a freshman.”
Miller’s biggest downfall in his rookie campaign is turnovers. His 62 giveaways are second only to Mike Rosario’s 63.
A lazy pass at the end of the first half Saturday with RU attempting to hold for the final shot resulted in a Louisville dunk and a double-digit halftime lead.
“These are the little things — experience — we’re setting up a three-point shot for Mike Rosario. There’s no way you should turn the ball over in the zone — it’s just a little ball reversal, we get a little casual, we turn the ball over,” said Rutgers head coach Fred Hill Jr. “Instead of a nine-point game at half, it turns into 11 — maybe if we execute and get Mike a shot and he buries a three, it’s a six point game.”
Still, Hill said he is impressed with Miller’s progression — particularly since he’s averaging 25.6 minutes per game.
“I’ve watched Dane from day one continue to get better and better,” Hill said. “In some respects he’s starting at a much different level than [Hamady N’Diaye] when he was a freshman. Look at H now, he’s got the chance to be a [NBA] draft pick. [Miller] has that same enthusiasm and passion for the game. I think the sky is the limit for the type of player Dane can be here and he continues to get better each day.”
Miller and the Knights (11-12, 2-9) step out of conference tonight at the Louis Brown Athletic Center to face Division II Caldwell College.
The Cougars (3-18, 2-11) are coming off a 71-44 loss to Philadelphia University and are losers of five straight.
Malcolm Austin leads Caldwell in scoring with 13.8 points per game. The sophomore guard had a 30-point effort in a loss to Dominican College earlier this month.
The game is also Rutgers’ fan appreciation night and admittance to the game is free.

• Facebook Comments
• Site Comments

Be the first to comment on this article!

Add comment


I am not posting spam. I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Enter the characters in the image above:

log out