Autumn Brings Heat to Season

Autumn Miller has a bubbly personality and a contagious smile, which makes sense as the current Lady Saints point guard was a cheerleader through junior high.
She’s dealt with athletic injuries and success, all while continuing to strive for improvement, and remaining humble.
Miller, who is originally from Louisville, Ky., attended high school at Sacred Heart Academy where she was a McDonald’s All-American nominee for averaging 14 pts, 7 steals, 7 assists and 6 rebounds per game as a junior in 2009.
Miller also stated that one of her best memories of high school was winning the Louisville International Tournament, which is a basketball tournament of different teams from Kentucky.
Although Miller dabbled in the cheerleading side of sports, she has been playing basketball since she was 4 years old, and a major contributor in Autumn’s move from cheering to shooting baskets was her father Nick Miller.
“She cheered for Rajon Rondo, who is from Louisville and plays for the Boston Celtics, and that kind of led her into wanting to play Division I basketball and ultimately playing for the WNBA,” Nick Miller said.
Autumn has always been close to her father and feels like he understands what she is going through now as he also played basketball for Frank Phillips in Borger, Texas.
“I would say I look up to my dad,” Autumn said. “Just knowing he’s been through everything I’ve been through and he’s taught me to always follow my dreams.”
Autumn was being recruited by Division I schools, but ended up at Seward after she tore her ACL her senior year of high school, and lost some scholarship offers due to the injury.
“That experience made her more humble and even though she didn’t play her senior year she played 100 points away from 1,000 and was an All-American nominee,” Nick Miller said. “I was proud of the way she bounced back from a torn ACL and she motivated other kids she knew who also had sports injuries.”
Autumn was told that the best choice she could make was to attend a junior college, and then she could be reconsidered for more Division I scholarships.
However, Miller said she really enjoys the competition she’s been getting playing for the Lady Saints.
“It has been a very competitive season here,” Miller said.
Miller has proven to be an important part of the Lady Saints team as of Feb. 8, she has 61 assists, and has averaged 7 points per game and continues to strive for improvement in both performance and leadership skills.
“With our team, I’ve struggled with being a leader a little bit, but I want to get stronger and just continue getting better, ” Autumn said.
Autumns’s teammates have taken note of her caring personality and the way she’s willing to help.
“She’s a sweetheart. She’s always taking care of us girls on the team, or always doing things for somebody,” Lady Saint forward Kelsey Willson said.
Her teammates have also taken note of her improvement throughout this season.
“In stressful situations she’s a lot better at directing the team as a point guard and understanding what needs to be done in order to win,” Willson said. “Next year I see her being more confident in herself, and she will only get better.”
Although Miller has a laid-back personality while off the court, she knows when she’s on the court, it’s all about staying focused in order to win.
“When I’m off the court, I like to have fun and joke around, but when I’m on the court, it’s all laughs aside. You come ready to play,” Miller said.
“I’m also different because off the court, I’m kind of laid-back, but on the court I am intense and cheerful when my teammates make a play or something intense happens in the game. I get pumped.”
As far as her goals after Seward, Miller would like to continue playing the game she loves, although she is not sure where she is attending yet.
“I would love to go to a Division I school to play basketball. I want to continue majoring in finance, and someday I want to be a stockbroker,” Miller said. “I would love to attend a school close to home but yet far enough away.”