One of college basketball’s all-time winningest coaches, Ralph Miller (March 9, 1919 – May 15, 2001) won 657 games and conference titles at three different schools. The bulk of his success came at Oregon State from 1970 through 1989. His Beaver teams won the Pac-10 title four times and made eight trips to the NCAA tournament. From 1980-82, the OSU “Orange Express” had a combined record of 77-11 and earned the #1 tanking in the national polls.
Miller was a multi-sport, small town athlete who stayed close to his boyhood home attending the University of Kansas. AT KU, he competed in football, basketball and track and field. His basketball coach was the legendary Phog Allen and Miller had the opportunity to hear the father of basketball, Dr. James Naismith, speak as a guest lecturer. Post-graduation, Miller was drafted into the NFL but chose not to play in the league. He would spend three years in the Army Air Force, then found his passion for coaching high school basketball in Wichita where he won a state title employing the “pressure basketball” techniques he would share throughout his career.
He reached the collegiate level in 1951 at Wichita State where he took just three seasons to put the Sockers on basketball map. Miller moved on to Iowa after taking WSU to the NCAA tournament in 1964.
At Iowa City, Miller’s teams won two Big Ten championships, and it was after another NCAA trip in 1970, Ralph came to Oregon State, replacing Paul Valenti.
Once again, Coach Miller went out on a winning note taking the Beavers to the 1989 Big Dance in his final season. His final career numbers were more than impressive: 38 seasons, a record of 657-382 (.632), only three losing seasons, ten total NCAA appearances. He was named Regional Coach of the Year six times and twice named National Coach of the Year. Upon retiring in 1989, his 657 wins ranked him seventh all-time among major college coaches.
Coach Miller was ahead of his time, advocating for providing additional benefits to college athletes long before that became the norm. Despite his appearance as grumpy taskmaster, he also knew when to hand the keys to the team to a young Gary Payton in 1987.
Ralph Miller was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. He is also a member of the Oregon State University Hall of Fame.
The floor of Gill Coliseum is named Ralph Miller Court and the street in front of the venue is also named in his honor.