Athletes

Highly decorated athlete Cheryl Miller is the first University of Southern California (USC) basketball player, male or female, to have his or her number retired. Miller was a member of the U.S. women's basketball teams that captured a gold medal at the 1986 Goodwill Games, at the 1984 Olympic Games and at 1983 the Pan American Games. During her collegiate career at USC, Miller was named the NCAA Final Four most valuable player in her freshman and sophomore years, a four-time All-American, the Wade Trophy winner, a Broderick Cup winner and a three-time Naismith Player of the Year. She was also the recipient of the 1986 Young Women's Christian Association's Silver Achievement Award and was the first woman basketball player nominated for the Sullivan Award. For the 1984-1985 season Miller was voted the ESPN Woman Athlete of the Year. She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame (1999), the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (1995) and the Women's Sports Foundation's International Women's Sports Hall of Fame (1991). From 1997-2000, Miller assumed the role of head coach of WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and, in 1998, led the Mercury to the WNBA finals. She began her coaching career at her alma mater, USC, where she coached for two seasons (1993-1995), during which time she led USC into the NCAA tournament both seasons. In September 1995, Miller joined Turner Sports as an analyst and interviewer covering the NBA. Previously, she worked at ABC, where she had a variety of assignments, including reporting for "Wide World of Sports" and commentating for the network's college basketball telecasts. (8/08)