Miller takes Houston coaching position
Houston boys basketball coach Charlie Leonard needed just three seasons to turn a 2-18 season into a state tournament berth.
Now he’s handing the reins to a former 17-year NBA pro.
Former Memphis Tigers assistant Mike Miller on Wednesday was named the Mustangs’ coach. Leonard, 66, is retiring and moving to Cincinnati to be closer to family.
Miller will be coaching his sons Mason and Mavrick Miller on the team.
Mason Miller is a 6-foot-9 forward who is the No. 1 prospect in Tennessee for the Class of 2021, according to the 247Sports Composite. Mason has multiple Power 5 offers, but said he is focusing on Indiana, Ohio State and Creighton as his top schools. Mavrick Miller is a sophomore who played on the team last year.
“I’m excited to be a part of an outstanding school like Houston,” Mike Miller said in a news release. “The opportunity to coach these kids is going to be an awesome experience. I’m thankful for everything Coach Leonard has done for my children. I’m ready to do my best to continue the culture he quickly created and continue to build a basketball program our community will be proud of !!”
Miller played 17 seasons in the NBA after being selected with the fifth overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft out of Florida. He was the 2001 NBA Rookie of the Year, the 2006 NBA Sixth Man of the Year and a twotime NBA champion with the Miami Heat. He spent two years as an assistant coach at Memphis before stepping down in June.
Leonard, who led Christian Brothers to its only state title in 1987, said that he thought about retiring last year but stayed one more year to help develop the Mustangs’ core and see whether they could make a run at a state title.
The Mustangs were 2-18 his first year in 2018. They were District 15AAA champions and fell to James Wiseman-led Memphis East in the Region 8-AAA semifinals in 2019.
This past season the Mustangs finished 29-4 and earned their first
boys basketball state tournament berth since the school opened in 1989, but the tournament was canceled because of COVID-19.
“I wanted these group of six kids, the seniors that went through the first year went out the right way,” Leonard said. “I was going to do it a year ago but I felt like I owed it to them to let them show what they were capable of.”
Houston guard Alden Applewhite, who was district MVP and the No. 5 prospect in the state according to the 247Sports Composite, transferred to AZ Compass Prep in Arizona two weeks ago. But the Mustangs return all-district point guard TJ Madlock and 6-foot-8 forward Zander Yates.