UCLA Inks Lauryn Miller to NLI
November 09, 2016 | Women's Basketball
The 6-foot-2 forward is ranked No. 16 in the 2017 Prospects Nation recruiting rankings.
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LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- UCLA head women's basketball coach Cori Close announced today the signing of Lauryn Miller (Kirkwood, Mo./Kirkwood HS) to a National Letter of Intent. Miller will enter UCLA in the fall of 2017 as a freshman and will become a member of the 2017-18 women's basketball team. She joins 6-foot-1 guard Chantel Horvat (Geelong, Australia/Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence) who signed yesterday and 6-foot-1 guard Kayla Owens (Houston, Texas/Langham Creek HS) who signed earlier today.
"I love how deeply Lauryn and her family value the elite education UCLA has to offer," Coach Close said. "She is a spectacular student, a great athlete and an excellent teammate. She brings a versatile power game that we haven't had in a long time. The Bruin community will love watching her play and getting to know her outstanding character."
Miller, a 6-2 forward, is ranked 16th in the 2017 Prospects Nation Recruiting Rankings and the second-rated forward in the country. She is also rated No. 76 by Blue Star Media and No. 82 by Premier Basketball Report.
Ranked 12th in the country among front-line players by ESPN, Miller made the most of a short-lived junior season (2015-16). She returned from an injury suffered during summer basketball to help lead Kirkwood to a second-place finish in the state. She averaged 11.9 points and 6.7 rebounds in 10 games for the Pioneers (26-5), who lost to Kickapoo 63-53 in the title game on March 19 at Mizzou Arena.
She was named first team All-District in 2014 and 2015 and was also chosen as a Missouri Coaches 5A All-State selection in 2015. She was also tabbed to the Suburban XII South Division All-Conference first team in 2014 and 2015 and second team All-Metro in 2015. She has also picked up two other honors, being named to the 2015 St. Louis American All-Star Team and the 2014 Suburban South Conference Newcomer of the Year. Heading into her junior year, she had compiled 986 points, 787 rebounds, 173 assists, 116 steals and 271 blocked shots. Lists her career-bests as 33 points against Lee High School (Ala.), 17 rebounds versus Pattonville, 10 assists against Rosati Kain and 10 blocked shots versus Villa Duchene in 2015; and eight steals versus Seckman High School in 2014.
As a sophomore in 2014-15, she started in all 27 games and averaged 17.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.3 steals and 4.0 blocks per game to help KHS to a 23-5 record and a fifth-place finish in the state tournament while shooting 56.5 percent from the field. As a freshman in 2013-14, she averaged 19.9 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.9 steals and 2.8 blocks per game to help the Pioneers to a 22-7 record and a seventh-place finish in the 5A state tournament.
She was a member of the 2015 USA Basketball U16 National Team that captured the bronze medal with a 4-1 record at the 2015 FIBA Americas U16 Championship in Pueblo, Mexico.
Her father, Alvin Miller, played football at Notre Dame and played basketball, baseball and football at Kirkwood High School, and the track at Kirkwood was renamed the Alvin Miller Track Field in 2012."UCLA offers me the best place to achieve everything I want for myself athletically but especially once I'm done with basketball," Miller told Prospects Nation at the time of her commitment.
