Women’s college basketball star Kiyomi McMiller may or may not leave Rutgers and enter the transfer portal. Her father says it will be the latter.
He spoke on her behalf amid a mysterious saga that looms over the program in New Brunswick.
McMiller, a five-star prospect in the recruiting Class of 2024, is averaging 19.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game as freshman. She is hitting 43.5% from the field and 37.8% from three. Those numbers, while impressive, do not properly represent her ridiculous handles. The 5-foot-8 guard might already have the best handles in college hoops.
Kiyomi McMiller freshman year work! @Kiyomi_McMiller pic.twitter.com/Vcn0JX0h8x
— Courtside Films (@CourtsideFilms) December 27, 2024
McMiller is also very fiery when she plays. Head coach Coquese Washington has had to rein her in on a few different occasions over the last two months. Rutgers is 8-7 overall.
Kiyomi McMiller with a 💣 from deep to close out the first quarter, capped off by a celebration plus a little trash talk 🔥‼️ pic.twitter.com/BDW9vDz2pt
— ZekeHoops (@HandsOffAssata) January 3, 2025
The Scarlet Knights’ most recent loss was a blowout. They lost by 50 points to JuJu Watkins and the fourth-ranked USC Trojans. It was ugly.
However, Kiyomi McMiller was not in the lineup. Washington also played her for only five minutes during the second half against eighth-ranked Maryland just three days prior. Nobody really knows why, but it is rumored to stem from an incident in the locker room. The staff is keeping it under wraps.
The thing with Kiyomi is – we’re going to keep it internal. Somebody sent me a post that Kansas State men’s basketball coach said at this recent press conference and talked about his faith and how he sees coaching as a ministry. And what he does it terms meeting and connecting with the young men on his team springs from his perception, understanding that what he does is a ministry.
For me, coaching is not just about what happens on the court on game day. It’s about how we impact these young women that are in our program in all aspects, from their character to their growth into womanhood into their decision-making. I see my role as a coach as being more than X’s and O’s and wins and losses but how am I impacting young women in my care? That’s always going to be first and foremost.
— Coquese Washington
McMiller put Washington on blast on social media to make it abundantly clear that her absence from the lineup was a coaching decision, not her own or due to injury. She also made a series of posts that hinted at an imminent departure from the program and subsequent entry into the transfer portal.
Leonard Ellerbe (yes, that Leonard Ellerbe) serves as an advisor to Kiyomi McMiller. He also questioned what the future might hold!
Despite the initial benching and chatter about a potential transfer, McMiller’s father told Talia Goodman that his daughter is not going anywhere… for now. She also deleted the troubling post after his comments were made public.
Kiyomi’s goal was to be at Rutgers and not ever transfer. That is still the goal. The goal is to finish the job. At this moment, we’re not looking to transfer.
— Mike McMiller, via On3
This latest development is both good news and bad news for the Scarlet Knights. The good news is that it seems like they are not going to lose one of the best young stars in the country this season. The bad news is that Kiyomi McMiller’s father used the dreaded “we” to speak about his daughter’s decision as his own, which is always a red flag, and hinted that circumstances could change by prefacing his comments with “at this moment.”
Rutgers will be back on the court at Minnesota on Wednesday. Will McMiller be back in the lineup?!