City of Basketball Love

By Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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Even before he suited up in one game or laced his shoes for one practice, Hysier Miller earned a spot in Adam Fisher’s “I owe you” list.

The junior was Fisher’s first “recruit” as Temple’s men’s basketball coach, coaxing the 6-foot-1 point guard out of the transfer portal six days after he was hired.

“I value him a lot,” Fisher said. “I’m forever grateful for it. He got this thing started for us. He’s got me forever. I told him that when we sat down with him. That’s a big decision he made. But I think he’s a guy that understands this university. You gotta understand Temple, the history, we talk a lot about it with our guys. He’s from Philadelphia. This means something to him to be successful here.”

Miller, a Neuman-Goretti product, entered his name into the transfer portal along with five of his former teammates when former head coach Aaron McKie was fired in March. 

Damian Dunn (Houston), Khalif Battle (Arkansas), Jamille Reynolds (Cincinnati), Nick Jourdain (Memphis) and Zach Hicks (Penn State) all decided to head elsewhere. Miller, who chose the Owls over East Carolina, Drexel, Hofstra and Rider coming out of high school, had his options as well this spring. 

After putting his name into the portal, Miller took an official visit to conference rival Southern Methodist and reportedly had interest from Providence, Seton Hall and Fordham after averaging 8.6 ppg, 3.8 apg and 3.1 rpg as a sophomore. But he decided to stay home and help Fisher build on North Broad.

“I feel like just being from Philadelphia, local kid, Temple gave me an opportunity to come here to get an education and come here and play at this stage, it’s important,” Miller said. “Talking to other schools, then meeting coach Fisher, it was like a no-brainer because of what his vision is for myself, what his vision is for this program and what he thought I could do.”

Miller came to Temple alongside Hicks in 2021 as a three-star recruit out of Neumann-Goretti. While Fisher did not have a relationship with him from the recruiting trail, he said he had watched several of Miller’s games during his time recruiting in Philadelphia.

In his freshman season at Temple, Miller averaged 4.9 ppg in 23 games in a mostly limited role off the bench. Injuries forced him into a starting role during the Owls’ final eight games, in which he averaged 9.5 ppg, 3.4 apg and 3.4 apg. It was clear he was prime to be a building block for the team’s future.

Miller was one of just two Owls to start all 32 games last season and led the team with 1,047 minutes, during a disappointing 16-16 campaign. He has 55 games, including 40 starts, under his belt entering his junior campaign. He is the one Fisher will lean on and teammates will look to as the unquestioned floor general in 2023-24.

“He had a tough decision to make. He came back, but with that he has some pressure on him,” Fisher said. “I told him. You’re gonna have to handle the ball, you’re gonna be on the ball. You’ve got to lead us by example and you’ve gotta be a vocal leader, so it’s gonna be a little bit different role for you in that sense, and he’s been awesome. He’s taking it on. He’s embraced that role, and since the first day we’ve gotten here he’s done it.”

Miller said while some of the concepts of Fisher’s offense are little different his role at the point guard spot remains the same: Get other guys involved, run the offense, etc.

“But he kind of tells us to be more aggressive,” Miller said. “He wants everybody to be a threat out there. Look to score first and I think that’ll benefit everybody because if we all play on the offensive side, then we’ll be able to make plays on defense.”

Miller was the team’s fifth leading scoring last season behind Battle (17.9 ppg), Dunn (15.3 ppg), Reynolds (10.1 ppg) and Hicks (9.6 ppg). Redshirt-junior wing Jahlil White (5.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg) is the only other returning member of the rotation.

Howard transfer Steve Settle III (11.1 ppg), UMBC transfer Matteo Picarelli (10.1 ppg) and Houston Christian transfer Sam Hofman (6.2 ppg) have all put the ball through the hoop at the Division I level. There are a few others on the roster who could be primed for breakout campaigns.

Still, it’s clear Miller will be the one who has to make the offense go.

“I probably have to score a little bit more than last year, but with the group that we got, I think we’ll have a good balance of scoring,” Miller said. “We got guys, a lot of guys, who could do some big things.”

Fisher praised assistant coach Chris Clark in getting Miller to stick with the Owls. Part of their pitch and vision was giving him a plan for life after basketball. He realizes the ability to play close to home and be a role model in the city is a special one.

It’s another responsibility he isn’t taking lightly, which included spending a year to publish a memoir titled “No Place Like Home: We Have Unfinished Business.” 

“I just wanted to get my message out to reach young kids because or kids that’s similar in my shoes because it wasn’t easy getting here, but it’s doable,” Miller said. “And the way our city is right now a lot of kids — I wouldn’t say hopeless — but there is not real good leadership. A lot of kids are following each other and they’re all making bad decisions, so I just wanted to give back that aspect and show them if you continue to work hard and you do the school aspect and everything else will take care of itself. It might be tough at times, but you can get through it.”