Ralph Miller, 82, a Hall of Fame Coach

By FRANK LITSKY

Published: May 19, 2001

Ralph Miller, who learned basketball from the pioneers of the game and went on to become a highly successful head coach at major colleges for 38 years, died Tuesday at his home in Black Butte Ranch near Bend, Ore. He was 82.

Miller coached at Wichita State (1951-64), Iowa (1964-70) and Oregon State (1970-89). His teams had losing records only three times.

When he retired at 70, his record was 657-382. The 657 victories were the most by an active coach and ranked him seventh among major-college coaches, trailing only Adolph Rupp (876), Henry Iba (767), Ed Diddle (759), Phog Allen (746), Ray Meyer (724) and John Wooden (664). Miller's teams actually won 674 games, but the total was reduced by forfeits because one of his players, Lonnie Shelton, had signed with an agent while still in college.

Miller was one of the final active links between college basketball and its roots. As an undergraduate at the University of Kansas, he was coached by the legendary Allen. In one of Miller's classes, a guest lecturer was Dr. James Naismith, who invented basketball.

From them, Miller learned the importance of basics. His teams were often small but quick, thrived on pressure defense and passed well. If players played good offense but indifferent defense, they spent most of their time on the bench.

In the final months of Miller's career, he was all business.

''There really hasn't been time to become nostalgic,'' he said, ''but I suppose it will be the end of an era. I'm the oldest guy still coaching among a group of us who went to college in the 30's, when the game of basketball as we know it today evolved.

''If I had to sum up my career, I'd say I was a pretty good teacher. It was more enjoyable years ago because there was a purity to the game. The No. 1 reason I've been able to cope with the pressures of coaching is that I've never taken the game home.''

Ralph Howard Miller was born March 9, 1919, in Chanute, Kan. At Chanute High School, he won letters in football, track, basketball, golf and tennis. He was an all-state basketball player for three years.

In college, he won three letters as a football quarterback and three in basketball. After he earned a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1942, he spent three years in the Army Air Forces, leaving as a first lieutenant.

Miller then became a recreation director and a citrus-fruit salesman. His first coaching job was at Wichita East High School in Kansas. After three years, he moved to Wichita State for $5,500 a year, and a long college career began.

Nine of his teams played in the N.C.A.A. tournament and six in the National Invitation Tournament. He won titles in the Missouri Valley Conference, the Big Ten and the Pacific 10. He was voted national coach of the year in 1981 and 1982, and in 1988 he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years, the former Jean Milam; a son, Paul, of Black Butte Ranch; two daughters, Susan Langer of Vancouver, Wash., and Shannon Jakosky of Balboa, Calif.; two sisters, Barbara Topping of Minneapolis and Beverly Olson of Humboldt, Kan.; 10 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.

After he retired, Miller frequently played golf, but he missed basketball. As he said after his last game, a loss to Evansville in the 1989 N.C.A.A. tournament: ''I'm sorry it's over. I hoped we could win one more. What I said to my players was, 'Thank you.' ''