Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Masen Miller is a planner.

It doesn’t matter if its school or sports anything Miller does, he wants to give his best effort and the first step in doing that is preparation.  

“I work hard at whatever I do and I try to be prepared for life as I can,” Miller said. “That’s always been my attitude.”

Preparation has played a key role in turning Miller into one of the best point guards in the state.

The Regina senior worked tirelessly over the past two summers to get bigger and stronger.  

During the season pours over game film like a coach looking for flaws in his own game and holes in opponents.

All the work Miller does is calculated. A plan to play the game of basketball at the highest level.

“He invested a lot in himself,” Regina coach Jared Galpin said. “He had a plan in place and he followed that plan.”

All the planning and preparation helped Miller to a breakthrough junior season a year ago when he averaged 20.2 points while leading Regina to the 2A state tournament and earning all-state status for the first time.

It was after he arrived on the state-wide scene that the preparation ratcheted up for Miller.

Miller knew he would need to play close to all 32 minutes each game for Regina to reach its full potential so he would drill himself to near exhaustion then shoot more to simulate playing tired.

Knowing he would be the subject of opponent’s game plans as a senior Miller tailored his offseason workout regime to beating double teams and exotic defenses.

“He is goal oriented, he set goals and had plans for himself,” Galpin said. “Every day he went to lift weights or workout in the gym there was always a goal in mind, there was always a plan in place, something to work on to get better at and that’s what separates him is his mindset and how he prepares.

Sure enough his senior season was filled with teams gearing up to stop Miller.

His preparation made him almost unstoppable.

Miller ranked sixth in the state in scoring at 26.2 points per game and averaged career-highs in rebounds, assists and steals all while facing constant double teams.

“I kind of knew those defenses were coming and I prepared for it and it became kind of normal,” Miller said. “If you are ready for it, you are prepared for it, you know what it’s going to look like and you know how to attack it, you just have to get a little used to it and it will be fine.”

After scoring 35 and 33 points in back-to-back games during the second week of the season the defenses Miller prepped for in the offseason began to become regular.

Durant ran a box-in-one on Miller, several other teams followed while others used a diamond-and-two on Miller and Ashton Cook.

Several teams had variations of zone defenses designed to make Miller get the ball out of his hands.

Miller prepped for it all.

“It’s just as much mental as it is physical,” Miller said. “Physically it’s not that much different during the flow of the game when you have all the adrenaline going. Playing against it is easier than watching the film and preparing for that.”

When Cook was lost for the season with a lower leg injury in the ninth game of the season teams honed their defenses in on Miller even more.

The specialized defenses opponents implemented to slow Miller became even more exotic.

“The craziest thing was at Mount Pleasant when they went triangle and two with both guys on him,” Galpin said. “They basically played three defenders on four offensive players. Masen could have stayed on the other end of the floor and they would have stayed with him. That was probably the craziest things I saw.”

No matter how creative opposing coaches got with a defensive approach to slowing Miller it almost always came with only moderate success.

Miller scored 31 or more points 10 times during a senior season in which he ranked second in the state with 86 made 3-pointers.

“The kid is a heck of a player,” West Branch coach Jason Kern said of Miller. “I haven’t seen someone who can shoot like that and he’s so quick and can handle it.”

Even while attempting a career-high number of field goal attempts the 6-foot-1 Miller was as efficient as any time during his career.

Miller shot better than 46 percent from the field as a senior, including 39 percent from beyond the 3-point arc, and 80 percent from the free throw line on a career-high 117 attempts.

Miller didn’t just score, he facilitated everything for Regina (15-7) posting a career-high 4.6 assists per game.

He also had career-high marks of 6 rebounds and 2.5 steals per contest.

“It kind of came down to do we want him coming off screens or do I just want to put the ball in his hands and say I know you are better than this guy and you can probably beat two people and I feel comfortable taking the ball at three people and either getting your own shot or creating a shot for somebody,” Galpin said. “That’s what it came down to, we were just going to give him the ball and let him do his thing and we are going to spread the floor and if you can score great or otherwise he’d make the right play.”

A 20-win state tournament team a year ago Regina was hit hard by injuries this season.

Miller never flinched. Playing most of the season with a group of first-year varsity players Miller took his leadership to another level on and off the court.

“He was a calming presence in our huddle that we needed and he just kept encouraging and staying positive and working,” Galpin said. “He came to work every single day and it just shows you the mindset that he has that he could have pointed fingers and said poor me but he never thought about himself it was all about us. Ever since he’s been playing sports it’s all about the team and not about any individual.”

Miller was at his best as his prep career neared its end.

He scored 30 or more points in his final four regular season games including 44 in his final game at Regina.

Miller was held to 12 in a district loss to Cascade but still averaged 32 points over his final five games.

“Obviously it didn’t end how we wanted it to, we wanted to get to state and get further than we did last year, but with everything unfortunate that happened I am proud of our team, I am glad I was a part of it,” Miller said. “Some of those guys are my best friends and getting to play it out with them and have the success we had it was fun.”

One of the most dangerous shooters in the state, Miller closed his career with 287 3-pointers hitting from deep at a 42 percent career clip.

Also an 80 percent career free throw shooter Miller, who will play college basketball at Truman State, concluded his career with 1,491 points and even more memories.

“A lot of the best memories are off the court,” Miller said. “Summer stuff, riding in the vans that’s the stuff I’ll remember most.”

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