Excelling on the court and in the classroom

by Melissa Kay

Recent Drury alumnus, Matt Miller, was honored February 8 when the athletic department retired Panther basketball jersey #22. Matt wore jersey #22 during his distinguished Drury career from 1998 to 2002.

Miller is currently completing his master’s degree in business administration and serves as the Panther’s graduate assistant coach. Matt is a graduate of Parkview high school where he carried a 4.2 GPA. He went on to continue his scholastic achievement while at Drury, receiving the NCAA-II academic All-American honor and winning the Verizon Academic All-American District VII Second Team. Matt was honored at the Heartland Conference for academic achievement all four years of his undergrad. He graduated with a B.A. in business administration in 2002. After he completes his master’s Matt says, “I plan to either use my MBA to begin a career in the workplace or pursue a professional basketball career, depending on the status of some injuries I have been battling.”

Matt was a three-time NCAA-II all-district pick as well as a four-time all-conference all-district pick. In 2001 he was the Heartland Conference Player of the Year and earned NCAA-II Second Team All-American honors. Matt finished his career at Drury as the Heartland Conference’s Male Student Athlete of the year in 2002.

He holds the Drury record for point field goals made in a career with 351 and in a season; in the 1999-2000 season he scored 218. He also holds the record at Drury for most consecutive free throws with 34.

Matt’s jersey hangs next to those of other Drury greats, Charlie Crosby, Jerry Alexander, and Lonnie Holmes. Of his honor Matt said, “A lot of people put in a lot of hard work and planning to make it special, and it was something I will never forget. I have grown up watching Drury basketball, and still remember the guys who built the tradition, guys like Virgle and Gail Fredrick, Jerry Alexander, Nate Quinn, Tommy Deffebaugh, Ted Young, and Lonnie Holmes. Those were the guys I idolized as a kid. They were my heroes. So it is almost unbelievable to me to have my jersey retired.”