Shimmy Gray-Miller enters her third season with the Billikens as head coach of women's basketball. Gray-Miller was introduced on April 19, 2005, as the sixth coach in the history of the Saint Louis University women's basketball program. Since joining the Billikens, Gray-Miller has become the third winningest coach in Billiken women's basketball history. The 2005-06 season was her first as a head coach and was additionally memorable as it was Saint Louis University's first as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference. Gray-Miller's impact was immediate. Her first full recruiting class was arguably the finest in program history. The class included 2006 Illinois State Player of the Year Theresa Lisch, and Ohio State Champion Katie Paganelli. All four members of the freshman class (Lisch, Paganelli, Maggie Hennegan, and Amy Klotz) earned starting roles as true freshman. Gray-Miller's first career victory was a 65-50 decision over Yale on Nov. 25, 2005. She guided the Billikens to their first A-10 win on Jan. 15, 2006, a 59-54 triumph versus Duquesne. Despite an inexperienced and undersized squad, Gray-Miller and the staff guided the Billikens to rank in the top half of the conference in offensive rebounds, 3-point field goals made, steals, turnover margin and FT percentage. Several Billikens enjoyed standout performances under the tutelage of Gray-Miller. Tyler McIlwraith nearly tripled her career scoring average en route to earning second-team All-Atlantic 10 Conference honors. With the guidance of Gray-Miller, McIlwraith ranked in the A-10's top 10 in five statistical categories, including fourth in scoring average. Rachel Diener and Marquita McFarland were in the top six in 3-point field goals made and offensive rebounds, respectively. McFarland and Heather King both ranked in the league's top 20 in rebounding, too. In addition to their on-court achievements, the Billikens were successful in the classroom. Five Billikens were named to the A-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll - Brittany Artis, Diener, Hayley Leake, McIlwraith and Cara Young. In addition, McIlwraith was named the A-10 Women's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Year. Gray-Miller's second season began with a five game winning streak and brought the team's first road win in nearly four seasons and the first conference road win in four years. The Billikens qualified for the conference tournament for the first time since 2003. SLU continued to the quarterfinals after upsetting #6 seed Richmond, eventually losing to #3 seed and host Xavier by just one point. The Bills were ranked second in the Atlantic 10 in scoring and first in steals. They set school records for points scored in a season, free throws made in a season, and steals in a season. The athletes also found success in Gray-Miller's second season. Senior, Tyler McIlwraith was an ESPN second team all American and repeat A10 Student Athlete of the Year. as well as National Athletic Director's Division 1-AA Student Athlete of the Year and All Conference. Theresa Lisch was named to the A10 All Rookie Team. Maggie Hennegan and Katie Paganelli were A10 Rookies of the Week. Giving back to the local area and community service are high priorities for Gray-Miller. She and the Billikens were involved with more than a dozen organizations in her first year in St. Louis. As a team, the Billikens performed more than 240 hours of service to the community, leading the athletic department two consecutive years. Junior Jameela Haynes has performed over 44 hours of service in each of her two years. Prior to arriving at SLU, Gray-Miller, a native of Flint, Mich., had been an assistant coach at the University of Arizona for two seasons. The Wildcats made the NCAA Tournament both seasons. In 2004-05, Gray-Miller helped Arizona to a 20-12 overall record and an 11-7 mark in the Pacific-10 Conference. The Wildcats defeated Oklahoma in the NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 1 LSU. In 2003-04, the Wildcats posted a 24-9 record, tied for the Pac-10 regular-season championship with a 14-4 slate and were runners-up in the conference tournament. While with the Wildcats, Gray-Miller coached honorable mention All-Americans in center Shawntinice Polk and guard Dee Dee Wheeler, who was a 2005 second round WNBA draft choice. Prior to her stint at UofA, Gray-Miller was an assistant coach at the University of Washington for three years. She helped the Huskies to the postseason every season, including two NCAA Tournaments. In 2000-01, Washington finished 22-10 and tied for the Pac-10 regular-season title. In the NCAA Tournament, the Huskies reached the Elite Eight after defeating Old Dominion, Florida and Oklahoma and finished the year ranked No. 14. The Huskies reached the WNIT in 2001-02 and registered 19 wins. Washington posted a 22-8 record in 2002-03, and Gray-Miller coached Pac-10 Player of the Year Giuliana Mendiola. During her UW tenure, Gray-Miller coached seven All-Pac-10 players and had 19 players earn Academic All-Conference honors. In 2003, Gray-Miller earned the Seattle Parks and Recreation Award for "Outstanding Dedication to the Youth of Seattle." Gray-Miller worked as a volunteer coach for the WNBA's Seattle Storm in 2003 and spent the 1999-2000 season as an assistant coach at Bellevue (Wash.) Community College. She played at the University of Michigan and served as team captain for the Wolverines as a senior. Gray-Miller was the 1994 Swish Club Award winner for leadership and dedication. She still ranks in the career top 10 in four categories at UofM. Gray-Miller graduated from Michigan in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in sociology with a minor in law and criminology. In 1998-99, Gray-Miller played one season of professional basketball for Olivais Futbol Clube, a first division club team in Coimbra, Portugal. She also played with Athletes in Action for two seasons. Gray-Miller is a graduate of Carman-Ainsworth High School and was a 1989 All-State selection as a senior. In 2005, she was inducted into the Carman-Ainsworth Hall of Fame. |
|
|||||||||||
