-- Story provided by Trine University Athletics --
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Trine University men's basketball head coach Brooks Miller continued to add on to his list of accolades in the 2023-24 postseason when he was named National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) National Coach of the Year. He was also tabbed National Coach of the Year by D3hoops.com.
Miller led the program to its first ever NCAA Tournament appearance and NCAA Division III National Championship behind a 29-4 record. 29 wins is the most in the team's NCAA Division III era. It is now back-to-back seasons that the program has crossed the 20-win mark after going 22-4 overall last season. In his career at Trine, Miller has a coaching record of 226-116 (.661 winning percentage) in his 13 seasons.
The six-game stretch to win the NCAA Tournament includes wins over four nationally-ranked teams. The Thunder defeated #25 Coe College 76-70 to advance to the second weekend and knocked off #11 University of Wisconsin-Platteville with a buzzer beater by D3hoops.com All-American Cortez Garland in overtime, 88-86. When the team got to the NCAA Tournament Championship in Fort Wayne, Indiana, they needed to beat #3 Trinity (Conn.) College and #1 Hampden-Sydney College to win a national championship. The team would do just that, 66-54 over Trinity and 69-61 against Hampden-Sydney.
Miller utilized defense in order to win an NCAA Tournament Championship, with this team ranked fifth in NCAA Division III in steals per game (11.8). Trine was also 11th in the nation in turnover margin (+5.0) and 13th in turnovers forced per game (17.7). On offense, the team's 48.1% field goal percentage for the year was 25th in the nation.
Trine went 22-3 in the regular season with a 12-2 mark in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) play to secure the program's third conference title in the last six years. The Thunder had a league-high five representatives receive postseason awards from the MIAA, including two First Team All-MIAA members, two Second Team nominees and the Defensive Player of the Year.
