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SoCalHoops News

Michael Miller's West Coast Hoops:
A Personal Note From Jerry--(Sept. 21, 1998)

We had originally intended to write a bunch of articles today recapping events this past weekend at the Pump Discovery Shootout which we attended all day Saturday and all day yesterday.

But something happened this morning that changed our minds.

We're not referring to the world economic crisis. And we don't mean the release of the Clinton Grand Jury tape (that's a virtual --and a real-- non-event).

Nope. But for us, it was something much more personal, like a death in the family. Well, not a death, but an evolutionary change.

We mean Michael Miller's "official" announcement today that he will no longer be running WestCoastHoops, at least for the foreseeable future.

It didn't hit us like a "ton of bricks", but it was a shock nevertheless when we read Michael's "farewell" articles today, a bit of unsettling news. Geez, first we have to hear about the details of the President's pecadillos, then this. Is nothing sacred? Are there no certainties in life? Guess not.

It appears that the future of WestCoastHoops is somewhat in flux, but it's fairly certain that Michael will not be doing his usual "recent articles" on a daily basis, at least that much is clear. As he wrote this morning, he will be moving on to pursue his career as a screenwriter (CBS has purchased a four-part mini-series on Joan of Arc written by Mike) and he's also got an Executive Producer gig over at Warner Bros., so he'll have his hands full. He did write that time permitting, he would contribute articles from time to time to the site, but for now, its really up to Tracy Pierson, Dave Harris, Bill Nance, and most of all, Rich Meyer who actually makes the whole structure of the site go (and who intends to merge his Pac-10 site into WestCoastHoops) to keep the WestCoastHoops alive. Sure, the Fan Forum will take care of itself. but it's the daily articles, scouting reports, and the like, delivered with the wit and humor that only Michael could deliver, which will be missed. And, of course, to everyone and anyone who wants to contribute articles to WestCoastHoops we'd encourage any and all of you with an interest to contact Rich Meyer.

For us, we sort of saw this coming given the evolution WCH. Mike had given up a career as an attorney to take on the job of writing and scouting high school basketball players, ostensibly without any visible means of support. In its first incarnation as a part of Rich Meyer's Pac-10 website, Michael seemed to focus mostly on college players, with wide-ranging ramblings and musings often as not related to UCLA players and future players, and UCLA opponents and those who would play for those opponents someday. Over time, Michael began to focus more and more on future college prospects throughout the West Coast. Sure there was always a UCLA undercurrent to much of what he wrote, but that was fine, because Michael had such a. . . well. . . "nice" way of saying things. He was just plain fun to read.

Mike was shining the spotlight on kids who were unknowns, and who might have remained unknowns but for the attention he was devoting to them. And he did it in a way which made the rest of us believe these guys were as important as any pro player who would be covered by Sports Illustrated. We were seeing the future Michael Jordan's of the world before they became famous. Michael wrote about these guys in a way which had us all believing we were right there with him, with them too, watching, talking and getting to know these young players, their coaches, and the world of prep basketball. And it also gave new meaning to the word "prep" in this context as well. We've watched players like Shantay Legans, Nick Vander Laan, Tito Maddox, Jason Kapono, Casey Jacobsen, and others grow up over the past two years. We've seen them "prep" for the next level in a way we've never seen this before Michael attempted it. Heck, we even know what Roy Williams had for dinner at Andrew Gooden's house, details you couldn't find anywhere else unless you were there (you were there, weren't you Michael?).

A lot of people thought that Mike had bitten off quite a bit more than he could chew when he titled his site "West Coast Hoops". Some thought the name was also just pretention when he prominently featured it as "Michael Miller's" WCH. But then no one else before or since has been able to systhesize this subject in such a personal way like Michael, and he deserved to have his name featured prominently. He gave his life to the site, and if you want to see what he's done with literally two years of his life, just visit the archives at WCH.

Mike didn't really bite off more than he could chew, because at it's core, WCH was always about individual players. Some of national caliber, but mostly local, unknown, players across the greater "West Coast". First it was just California, Oregon, and Washington. Then Mike added Arizona, Nevada, Utah, even a bit of Idaho and Wyoming (hey, they're Big Sky/Big West/WAC right?) Some Colorado and even Texas news here and there. Of course, he didn't do it alone. There was Dave Harris, Bill Nance, Jerry Norley, Tracey Pierson, and Rich Meyer the Wizard behind the curtain, and everyone who has contributed to WCH's fan forum and provided Michael with information for his articles.

Even given the enormity of the undertaking, with Michael it always seemed like no big deal. He never seemed overwhelmed and always seemed enthused about what he wrote about. In conversation and in writing, he can rattle off the names, heights, classes, and SAT scores of more players than you can imagine, and can probably give you their stats for the last 10 games too; and if he's just making it up, he's sure convincing. Michael. did what he did, and just went about it quietly, professionally, and with a style all his own. Sure, we had our "fake arguments" :-), and at times we disagreed (and continue to differ) in our assessment of some players. But with Michael, he just wrote about the guys, hyped them when they deserved it, told them what he thought they needed to hear when their games weren't up to par, and even added a dose of reality here and there for some of the kids who wouldn't otherwise get it from talking to their friends, family or high school coaches. In this way, he not only helped some players move on to the "next" level of play, whether that meant being better high school players or going on to play in college. He also may have helped some players more realistically evaluate their own talents. Of course, he made some friends, and some disagreed with him. But he was always wrote what he believed was true.

When we saw Mike at the Pump Shootout on Saturday, he mentioned to us then that he might not be doing the site any longer, describing his time at Saturday's Pump Shootout as his "farewell tour." Of course, he asked us not to say anything publicly, and we didn't, respecting his wishes and letting him do this in his own time and his own way. We also thought (and hoped) that Michael might have just been floating a "trial balloon", possibly only "considering" his decision, and that he would come to his senses on Monday. Unfortunately for all of us who have grown accustomed to reading his multiple daily articles, Mike has stuck to his guns. We're sure he made the right decision for himself. But we'll miss him alot anyway.

For us here at SoCalHoops the timing of Michael's announcment is more than a bit ironic, since for us, today is the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Many of you either don't know what the holiday is, and many of you may not even want to. We won't turn this into an exegesis about comparative religion, but suffice it to say that for us, the holiday is a time of new beginnings, a time to reflect on the past year, a time to re-examine where we've been, how we can improve our lives, how we touched and affected the lives of others. It's a time that we ask ourselves some really fundamental questions about the direction our lives have taken, about our relationships with others, and a time to examine what we want to do in the coming year to improve our lives and the lives of others around us.

So it was especially bittersweet for us that Michael chose this day, of all days, to make his announcement. It gave us the opportunity to reflect, on a larger scale, about what Michael Miller has meant to the rest of us, how he has touched the lives of thousands of young men and helped them on their way. It was a time for us to reflect on this rather remarkable man, who simply loved the game, loved the players and decided to write about it.

It's given us the chance also to reflect on how we got to know the young men he was writing about, think about why he developed the site, the forum and player diaries, how he gave these young, promising players a platform unlike any other before. It's also given us time to pause and reflect on how we got to know Michael through his writings and developed a relationship with him, long before we had met or spoken to him.

Looking back on the last few years, at least from a personal perspective, it's safe to say that without Michael Miller not only would WCH not exist, there also probably wouldn't be a SoCalHoops either. He's been a personal inspiration for us, on more than a few levels, and in many ways, we've used his site as a model of how to look at the game, the kids, and the many opportunities some of the most talented players are presented with, and how merely "good" players can become top prospects. And it was also fun to see which one of us would "scoop" the other. Usually it was Michael, but occasionally we beat him to a story. Not often. More often than not, Michael often knew who was going where and when, sometimes before the players did :-0).

On a slightly serious side, we also have some personal notion of the level of committment it takes to do what Michael has done, and it's a considerable committment, both financially and in time invested. It's a committment that doesn't come cheap, and often not only does one's career, health and well-being take a beating, it also takes its toll on family, friends, and associates. We're fairly certain that Michael had vastly different personal motivations for starting WCH than we had for doing SoCalHoops. But in a strange way, we feel a special kinship with Michael, because in a very small way, we think we've got an idea of what he was trying to accomplish, and we know just how successful he's been. We will continue as long as we are able, to do what we do, and we only hope that we have half as much success as Michael has had in the past few years.

This is not only a time to reflect back, but also to look forward. Of course, we wish Michael the best, and we know that he'll continue to be successful in his new career (hey, send us the tickets for the premier of the movie Mike :-)). We also hope that for the rest of us who have come to make WCH a part of our personal daily routine, Tracy will be able to carry on, or that some other new Michael Miller will come along. Yeah, we know there will never be another Michael, but someone with a similar wit and humor is sure to come along. Someone with the same good sense and common courtesy as Mike possessed, someone who will know when to say something complimentary about a player, coach or team; someone who will know when to make an honest evaluation of talent; and someone who will know when it's better to simply say nothing.

That someone might be Tracy, and it could be a Frank Burlison, or maybe a Louis Johnson, or a Gary Klein, or maybe even a Vince Bonsignore or a Paige Leach, but their newspaper employers would never give them the freedom to do what Michael has done. But it will be someone. We'll try at SoCalHoops to fill whatever void is created, and we hope there isn't one.

WCH will go on. It may no longer be "Michael Miller's WestCoastHoops" but it will survive. It will evolve and change. We don't know how Rich will do it, but he will.

We only wish that Michael was coming along for the ride, driving that big shiny bus to Vegas.

We'll miss you buddy.

As Michael would say:

Dang.