Miller, Cheryl D.
Basketball
b. Jan. 3, 1964, Riverside, CA
Known as "Silk" because of her smooth style of play, Miller was the only athlete ever to be named to Parade magazine's high school All-American team four times, from 1979 through 1982. In her 90 games at Riverside, CA, Polytechnic High School, she scored 3,026 points, an average of 32.8 per game, grabbed 1,353 rebounds, and had 368 assists. She once scored 105 points in a game and was the first female player to dunk a basketball in competition.
She never missed a beat at the University of Southern California, where she was a four-time All-American and three times college player of the year, in 1984, 1985, and 1986. Miller won the Naismith Trophy and the Broderick Award as the nation's outstanding woman basketball player all three years, was the Wade Trophy winner in 1985, and shared the 1984 Honda Broderick Cup as the outstanding college athlete in any sport with swimmer Tracy Caulkins.
During her four years and 128 games at Southern Cal, she scored 3,018 points, grabbed 1,534 rebounds, and had 462 steals in 128 games. She led the school to NCAA championships in 1983 and 1984 and was named the tournament's outstanding player both years. After Southern Cal beat defending champion Louisiana Tech in the final game in 1983, losing coach Leon Barmore said of Miller, "She is one of the few women who can singlehandedly turn the tide of the game."
Miller starred for several U. S. national teams. She was the top scorer on teams that won gold medals in the 1983 Pan-American Games, the 1984 Olympics, on the team that finished second in the 1983 World University Games. She was also on the team that won gold medals at the 1986 Good Will Games and the world basketball championship.
A severe knee injury that required surgery effectively ended her basketball career in 1987. She was unable to play on the Pan-American Games team that year and she failed in the trials for the 1988 Olympic team. A sports information major, she went into broadcasting.