Mills at next level with new program
Former Mekeel Christian basketball star plays for nationally ranked team
When Avery Mills started and excelled as a seventh-grader for the Mekeel Christian Academy girls’ basketball team, she displayed the poise, skill and hunger necessary to someday take her game to the collegiate level. During the summer prior to beginning her freshman year, Mills and her family made a decision in July to further accelerate the learning curve.
Mills, a Times Union Small School and Class B state first-team selection in 2020, now attends Winston-salem Christian in North Carolina and plays on the school’s national-level program that is currently ranked No. 8 in the nation. The 5-foot-8 point guard is the only freshman on the team.
“I love it here a lot,” Mills said. “Every day is a competition, even in practice. We are having good games against a lot of good competition. I am really loving it.”
Mike Mills has watched his daughter make a seamless transition to an elite level of competition, not only in terms of games but practice as well. Winston-salem Christian’s national squad features eight seniors — many of whom have reclassified, meaning they could be currently playing in college as freshmen.
“She has been thrust into an environment where blue chips don’t care that she is 14. They are going to pound you,” Mike Mills said. “Our practices are utterly insane.”
“I knew there was going to be a lot higher caliber of competition, but I think I was ready for it,” Avery Mills said. “I have been working my way up to it. I think I knew I was ready.”
Mills was not the only person who believed she was prepared for a new level of competition.
“She definitely doesn’t play like a freshman,” said Winston-salem Christian national coach Delaney Rudd, who played college basketball at Wake Forest from 1981-85 and then had an extended pro career that included four years in the NBA. “She is not afraid of moments, can shoot the ball and is not afraid of taking the big shot. She doesn’t mind getting hollered and screamed at. She is willing to learn.
“She is playing against some All-americans now and players that are going to (major Division I) schools. She is getting to see what it is all about. For her family to take this leap of faith, as I would call it, to move to another state and allow me to coach her says what they are all about and what she believes in.”
Steve Dagostino, the owner of Dags Basketball, began working with Mills as the coronavirus pandemic forced the shutdown of high school sports in New York last March. A Division II All-american at Saint Rose and someone who played pro basketball overseas, Dagostino quickly discovered Mills is a next level talent.
“I remember the first time coming home and telling my wife and also telling Shea Bromirski (a trainer at Dags and fellow Saint Rose alum) that she is a ninth-grader, but she is probably the best ninthgrader boy or girl around,” Dagostino said. “A couple of things I look at are number one, skill set. The bigger part is ‘Do you love playing?’ She loves playing and works at it every day.”
What really blew away Dagostino regarding Mills’ basketball aptitude at age 14 is he could give her detailed instructions regarding a complicated drill Mills had never attempted and she could execute it flawlessly on her first try.
“There are really good college players that can’t do that,” Dagostino said. “That is when I realized she truly is something special.”
Dagostino had Mills try a shooting drill used by the Atlanta Hawks requiring a series of movements and 10 jump shots from five different locations. The player must connect on 44 out of 50 to succeed.
“She got it on the first day,” Dagostino said.
Mills, who already had drawn interest from several Division I schools prior to leaving New York, currently competes for a program that plays games in several different states. The Lions (13-1) are riding a 13-game winning streak.
Despite enjoying success, Mills and her parents thought long and hard about whether or not to leave the Capital Region. As an eighth-grader, Mills averaged 22.1 points, 6.2 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 3.9 steals per game for MCA in helping lead the team to the Section II Class B final.
“The hardest part for us was we loved Mekeel,” Mike Mills said. “It was a great situation and Kelsey (Collins, the team’s coach) was tremendous with Avery.”
“I loved all my friends and coach Kelsey,” Avery Mills said. “I made some really good friendships there and I miss them, but I think I made the right decision.”
Rudd said the first time he saw Mills play, he knew her path would someday lead to Division I basketball. He has been pleased with her progress since joining the Lions’ program.
“What she has done coming in off the bench to now being on the floor at the end of big games,” Rudd said. “I always tell kids I can start any five kids I want because I am the coach. The five people on the floor at the end are the people I trust. She’s been on the floor at the end of some of our biggest games. Against Emerge Christian Academy (Dec. 12 in a 60-56 victory), one of the best teams from D.C., she made the game-winning play.”
Mills believes growing two inches has helped in making the transition to playing at Winston-salem Christian. Her coach says her continued improvement on defense and willingness to learn is leading to more playing time.
“She has a knack for scoring,” Rudd said. “She can really shoot it: She has a floater, a great mid-range jumper, a one-dribble right and a one-dribble left. She can hit the open 3 and she is not afraid to take it. Just adding the defensive presence to it and some more toughness and strength in the weight room, I can’t imagine her not playing in the ACC, Big East, Big Ten or somewhere at that level.”
“Even as a ninth-grader, her basketball IQ is so high that she is able to step in and play minutes and start on a team of that caliber,” Dagostino said. “Between her talent, work ethic and IQ, she will have her choice of schools.”
Dagostino lauded Mills for having the courage to make the move down south to push herself daily. The freshman standout realizes having a coach with Rudd’s credentials to learn from has enhanced her hoops horizon.
“He always says to be a pro: not just WNBA and stuff, but doing your homework on the road, getting things done ahead of time and always being ready to play and practice,” Avery Mills said of Rudd. “I am extremely fortunate also to be able to play right now. We are playing every weekend and I am really grateful for that. We have to wear a mask (when playing), but it is not that big of a deal. I am just grateful we are able to play.
“At night when I am praying to God, I am thinking, ‘This is so crazy and I am so thankful for the competition every day and the games I am getting to play.’ Being able to get in the gym every day and work on my game is something not a lot of people are getting to do right now, so I am really happy and thankful for what I am getting to do.”