For the last two decades, first-year Murray State men’s basketball coach Ryan Miller winded a path that went from elite player at Division II Northern State to elite assistant coach at stops like Auburn, UNLV, New Mexico, Pepperdine, Memphis and Creighton.
And nine months ago, he was Greg McDermott’s associate head coach for the Blue Jays — no indications of leaving one of the nation’s top offenses, nor escaping the gravity of his native Mitchell and Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
As fate would have it, however, Racer officials made a change this past offseason — moving on from future MSU Hall-of-Famer Steve Prohm, in search of new ideas and new blood as the athletic department continues to navigate the rigors and rivers of the Missouri Valley Conference.
Enter Miller, who admitted during last week’s Cadiz Rotary Club meeting that he could have stayed in Omaha — comfortable and cozy near friends, family and within the colossal confines of the Big East.
MSU, however, posed a unique, special opportunity. Posed growth. Posed tradition.
Through all his stops, he was part of eight NCAA Tournament teams, five regular-season championships, and helped recruit and develop several NBA-caliber talents like Desmond Bane and Baylor Scheierman — all while cheering on his two brothers, Jared and Mike, the latter pivoting to sports agent after a star-studded career at the University of Florida and the National Basketball Association.
No matter where he went, Miller said he always received the same message about the Blue & Gold.
Under the new college basketball landscape — which includes name, image and likeness deals, and higher-than-ever fandom-to-finance engagement — Murray State became one of just nine programs in the country to completely refit a 15-man roster this past summer.
Miller looked for talent all over the world. Literally. And in those players, he looked for three things.
Through 11 games, MSU is 8-3 and ranked 95th overall in KenPom metrics. Currently employing a 10-man rotation, Miller has the Racers running at a frenetic pace. They are 25th overall in adjusted tempo and 67th overall in offensive rating — averaging nearly 116 points per 100 possessions, and more than 88 points per 40 minutes, which is tops in the MVC.
Miller said he hears the complaints of this “day and age, not being able to build a team” because of donors and dollar signs, but right now, he isn’t seeing such distress.
And like many in the know across the country, he believes one of two things will happen to college athletics in the next five-to-10 years: collective bargaining agreements, or restrictive salary caps dictating team values.
With key victories against George Washington and Akron, conference play begins Thursday in Murray at the CFSB Center, when the Racers host the Drake Bulldogs — themselves under a transformation after one-year coach Ben McCollum roared in 2024-25 and accepted the University of Iowa job.
Miller’s general manager, and MSU’s first-ever such employee, is Ernie Kuyper. A 2007 graduate of Memphis with vast experience in the recruiting and NIL landscapes, he and his wife now live in Trigg County, just along the shores of Lake Barkley.
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