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Former Syracuse star sees a bright future for the fellow Upstate New York native
BY MIKE VORKUNOV
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
John Wallace remembers the first time he saw Dane Miller play. He does so, in part, because he never thought it would be worth remembering.
That is no slight to Miller. It's just that Wallace had wasted nights at high school gyms before, coming to see the next John Wallace and leaving unimpressed, 15 times by his count.
Wallace still is the reigning king of Rochester, N.Y. The hometown kid that went to nearby Syracuse then became an NBA first-round pick. He had led his teams to a high school state championship and an NCAA Final Four.
He does not take comparisons to himself lightly and goes to vet his supposed heir apparent. So when he went to go see the latest one trying to shoehorn in on his reputation, a lightning quick point-forward from Rush-Henrietta High School, Wallace finally found a suitable successor."I went to a game of [Dane's] when he was in 10th grade because everyone was saying he was going to be the next John Wallace," said Wallace of that night. "And no one has ever materialized into anything close. So the first time I saw him play I was like ‘Oh, OK, finally someone that can really play the game of basketball.'"
***
There is a certain dissonance to Dane Miller's game.
He is a freshman who, by his coach's admission, does not play like one. He is a point guard stuck in a small forward's body, a passer recruited to score.
Miller is a lithe 6-foot-7, all spindly arms and legs, an unlikely highlight reel with a smooth handle and flow. He is all about finesse moves, capricious spins into the lane and no-look passes, but plays with all the subtlety of a ferocious tomahawk jam.
So naturally Miller's propensity for incongruity extends off the court.
He is quick with a smile and to quote the rapper Jay-Z to make the case why he should be the Big East Rookie of the Year. At the same time, nothing screams brash less than admitting a talk with your Mom was the reason why your season did a 180-degree turn.
The turnaround occurred three games into the season. Before that, Miller had been swallowed whole by the usual burdens and anxieties of a freshman. Simple as it comes, he'd lost that loving feeling. Basketball stopped being fun for him, and as he said, "If you don't have fun playing this game, you shouldn't be playing."
So Miller called his Mom back home in Henrietta, N.Y., she told him to start playing like he did in high school. A viewing of his own Youtube video from high school later and an emerging star was born.
"I felt like I wanted to make plays and I wasn't ready to make those plays yet," Miller said of the difference between the start of the season and now. "At that time I wasn't really having fun because I wanted to do everything so perfect that I was scared to make mistakes. Now, I understand that I'm going to make mistakes and I can forget about it and move on to the next play."
Since then Miller has been arguably the best freshman in the Big East. Averaging 9.7 points per game and 6.1 rebounds on the season, but 13.9 ppg and 7.1 rpg in his last 14 games, his numbers have done more to validate his claim to the Big East hardware than lyrics ever could. And three straight Rookie of the Week awards can't hurt.
2009-2010 SEASON STATISTICS
"Everybody at home said I should have said it a long time ago," said Miller.
But as well as Miller may be playing, he is always guaranteed to have one pesky, nay saying voice in his ear and that's Wallace.
After Wallace came to see Miller play that night, the two came to know each other.
At first it was just exchanging text messages with Wallace dishing out advice on basketball. Slowly, the duo bonded with Wallace assuming a patriarchal role in Miller's life.
Miller grew up in New York, bouncing around from borough to borough as a kid. His mother and grandmother raised him. When he got to know Wallace, it filled a hole in his life.
"I definitely look up to him a lot and he definitely helps me a lot," said Miller. "I never really had a father figure. My high school coach was a father figure, my little brother's dad was a father figure but I never really had one. Those are the people I look up to and get guidance from."
When they talk about anything but basketball it is a give and take. But when it comes to talking trade, Miller isn't allowed to say a word.
Wallace nitpicks every part of his game, never letting him off the hook. Miller can hit 10-of-16 shots against Providence, and hear that he would not follow through on his shot. He can drop 26 points on Villanova and Wallace would say that he passed up too many shots.
And Miller has no choice but to listen.
"I'm the only guy who ever beat him 15-0 in a 1-on-1 game still," said Wallace sheepishly as Miller could only grin, and hold back laughter. "He's going to listen to whatever I tell him."
The last time they played was before Miller left home to go to Rutgers. Since then he has quietly become the best freshmen in the Big East. Cincinnati's Lance Stephenson receives the limelight due to his Empire State Building-sized reputation. Syracuse's Brandon Triche gets the attention because he plays for what is now the nation's No. 1 team.
Coincidentally, Triche and Miller are best friends, both growing up in upstate New York and playing on the same AAU team. While they don't talk about their place in rankings for the award, they do play an unspoken game of one upmanship.
"He doesn't know it but I'm competing with him every time I see him," said Miller.
At one point, Miller wanted to join Triche at Syracuse. Playing his high school ball in the far-cast shadow of the Carrier Dome, he wanted to stay home and play for Jim Boeheim.
"I told people if Syracuse would have offered I wouldn't be a Scarlet Knight," said Miller. "I would be an Orangeman."
They never did. Even after Boeheim came to see Miller in person and saw him throw up a triple-double. It turned out to be the Orange's loss.
"[Boeheim] admitted that he made a mistake about Dane because at first he didn't think he would be that good," said Wallace recounting a meeting the two had about Miller. "I was telling him from day one, he's this good, he should be here."
But now he is happy to be at Rutgers and they are even happier to have him.
His coach Fred Hill believes Miller has a chance to be the most dynamic player he's ever had. That's saying something considering he was an assistant on the bench to watch Randy Foye, Allan Ray and Quincy Douby.
"I think so. I think the sky is the limit for Dane," said Hill. "I think he's got unlimited potential. What I really like about him is that he's a student of the game. He's a guy that works at it. He's a guy that watches film. He's great when you sit down with him one-on-one, very coachable."
Wallace believes Miller can be the next one from Rochester to make it big like himself and others.
To think, a few years ago he wasn't even sure Miller should be compared to him. Now Wallace is the one making the comparisons.
