Cookie Miller Season 2008-09

2008-09 (Sophomore)
Cookie Miller continued his strong career in his second year with the Huskers before choosing to transfer closer to his native West Virginia for family reasons following the spring semester.

On the season, Miller was the team's fourth-leading scorer while posting 7.3 points per game and added a team-best 109 assists and 45 steals over 30 contests. He started 22 games and finished the year averaging 28.5 minutes per contest to rank second on the team.

Miller saw gains in nearly every area of his game, especially his shooting percentages. With better shot selection and more confidence, he hit 42.6 percent from the field and a solid 39.0 percent from 3-point range while ranking fourth on the team with 23 treys on the season. He was impressive at the free throw stripe, as he hit 81.7 percent while getting to the line 71 times (58 made).

With a strong sophomore campaign, Miller became just the second Husker ever to record at least 100 assists in each of his freshman and sophomore seasons at Nebraska, matching the mark originally set by Tyronn Lue. Miller had 109 assists for the second straight season, giving him 218 in his career. Miller finished for the second straight year among the Big 12 leaders for assists per game (eighth, 3.63 apg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (eighth, 1.85).

Miller made his name on the defensive end where he endeared himself to the Husker fans by posting 45 steals on the season. His 103 steals in two seasons was the second-highest total in school history and placed him 17th all-time on the Nebraska steals chart.

Offensively, Miller had two of the best games of his career within a three-game span as he posted 19 points against Oklahoma State on Jan. 24 and added 19 points at Texas Tech on Jan. 31. He hit 9-of-10 free throws and connected on 4-of-6 shots from the field while posting four assists and two steals versus the Cowboys. In the best shooting game of his career, he then came back to knock down 7-of-11 shots from the floor against the Red Raiders, while posting five assists and a career-high tying five steals.

The contests were two of only six double-figure scoring games for Miller, with all of them coming in Big 12 play. His play down the stretch helped him rank second on the team in scoring (8.8 ppg) in Big 12 contests as he hit 43.6 percent (17-of-39) from 3-point range vs. league opponents.

On the year, he recorded at least four assists 16 times, although only four times in his last 13 games. He also had at least two steals 12 times and posted at least one steal in the last 12 games of the season.

2007-08 (Freshman)
The only true freshman to play for NU in 2007-08, Miller made an immediate impact within the Husker program, averaging 6.1 points per game to go with 2.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.93 steals per game. Miller played in 30 games, missing three contests because of a late-season shoulder injury suffered at Texas A&M, but still averaged 26.6 minutes per game. Miller led the squad in scoring twice and was the top assist man in 17 games while leading the team in steals 11 times. <?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

Despite his significant height disadvantage against many defenders, Miller never showed hesitation taking the ball to the basket. With an aggressive offensive game, he hit 47.3 percent inside the arc and continually got to the line where he hit 67.8 percent.

Miller was the team's second-leading scorer on the road, as he averaged 10.1 points per game away from home while posting just 4.6 points per contest in the Devaney Center. He posted four of his five double-figure scoring efforts on the road, including a career-high 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting at Creighton.

Running the Husker offense, Miller posted the second-highest assist total for an NU freshman with 109, trailing only current NBA point guard Tyronn Lue (144). Miller ranked sixth in the league in assists per game (3.63; 5th in Big 12-only games, 3.54) and was the only freshman to rank in the top 10 in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.70). He posted a career-high 10 assists against Alcorn State to become only the fourth Husker in the Big 12 era to record double-figure assists in a contest.

Miller ranked among the Big 12 Conference leaders in steals as a rookie, finishing with 1.93 steals per game to rank fourth in the league and first among freshmen. Miller also led the Big 12 with 2.0 steals per game (26 in 13 games) in conference-only games. He had the second-highest steals total in the Nebraska freshman record book, posting 58 steals, ranking behind only NU career leader Cookie Belcher, who had 87 steals as a rookie.

Before Nebraska
Miller came to Lincoln with strong credentials after a stellar prep career in his native state of West Virginia and then at Harmony Community School in Ohio. During the 2006-07 season, Miller averaged 18.1 points, 8.4 assists and 2.3 steals per game for Harmony  Community and Coach Mark Metzka. Miller helped Harmony to a No. 5 national prep school ranking.

A year earlier, Miller averaged 17 points and nearly 12 assists per contest under Coach Rodney Crawford. He added a school-record 22 assists in a game for Harmony, and was ranked as the No. 12 player in the state of Ohio by Rivals.com.

At Capital High School in Charleston, W.Va., Miller led coach Carl Clark’s team to a 21-5 record and a state semifinal berth in 2005. Miller earned state player-of-the-year honors and was named captain of the all-state squad, his third selection to the all-state first team. Miller finished as the school’s career leader with more than 1,500 points.

During the summer, Miller also played AAU ball at the highest levels as he was a member of the D-1 Greyhounds based out of Cincinnati. Among his teammates with the Greyhounds were top-10 national recruits O.J. Mayo (played at USC) and Bill Walker (played at Kansas State). At the 2006 ABCD Camp, Miller was ninth among campers in assists per game (3.1 against 1.6 turnovers), and fourth with 1.7 steals and 3.0 rebounds per game.

 

Personal
Cookie, whose given name is Wendell, is the son of Marty and Cookie Miller, and was born on May 30, 1987. He has four sisters, Peaches, Nikky, Michelle and Lemesha.

Cookie chose to join the Huskers after receiving strong recruiting interest from a number of schools in the East, including Xavier, Rhode Island, Akron, Toledo and Cleveland State.