He’s the lone senior on the team.
He’s sacrificed some of the glory to talented underclassmen and an incoming transfer this season to ensure one thing.
Winning.
Imagine how hard that can be for a guy that’s put his blood, sweat and tears into the program since he was a freshman? Especially in today’s look at me and what I did social media world.
Make no mistake though, Marquez Miller is the essential piece that dictates how special Newport can make this season. The Wildcats just won their 20th game in a win over Cooper on Thursday, a 44-42 grinder, Newport securing their first 20-win season since 2018-19.
Miller led the Wildcats with 12 points against the Jaguars, securing a rebound off a free throw for a putback at a key point in the fourth quarter. Those are the kind of plays that Miller makes to help get Newport where they’re at. When the Wildcats need a defensive stop, Miller is often guarding the opponent’s best player.
With the amount of elite scorers in the region, whether it be Holy Cross’ Jacob Meyer, Covington Catholic’s Evan Ipsaro, Lloyd Memorial’s Jeremiah Israel or EJ Walker, Conner’s Landen Hamilton or the Highlands deadly weapons from the perimeter, Miller will be up for the task.
“He can guard 1-5. He has the athleticism and tools to do it on both ends,” Wildcats coach Rod Snapp said.
Miller leads the team in scoring with 15.2 points per game and is tied for the team lead with 6.8 rebounds a contest.
This is all before even getting into Miller’s deadly mid-range shot, a lost art in today’s game. Some coaches don’t want their teams taking those shots, rather sacrificing the 15-footer for the 19-footer behind the 3-point line or layups. When Miller rises from 15-feet, it’s almost as certain as a layup.
“That’s my go-to,” Miller said. “It’s just my easy way of getting buckets. No one really expects it, everyone shoots three’s and I practice it everyday.”
Proof to that is Miller’s field goal percentage at 58%, also leading the team for the everyday players.
He’s calm, cool and collected off the court and isn’t going to be the vocal “rah-rah” guy on the floor or in the locker room despite being the lone senior on the team. He’d rather lead by example with his actions.
“He’s just mild-mannered. Him being the only senior is rare on a team. It’s just how the pieces fell, lost a few kids to different things, but Marquez has just kept his head down and worked. He’s really getting it this year, he’s on a mission,” Snapp said.
The senior forward is his biggest supporters of his teammates, like when sophomore DaShawn Anderson rose above for a dunk on a Harlan County player in a matchup on February 4, Miller was the most animated in the gym.
“That’s my brother. When he does something like that I’m happy. I’m proud of him. Stuff like that makes me happy,” Miller said.
Those types of plays are a near nightly occurrence for the Wildcats, whether it be Taylen Kinney or Jabari Covington using their handles for a nifty move or James Turner owning the glass with putback dunks or catching alley-oops.
“All these guys are so talented and I trust all of them. They shoot a shot or dunk I’m always thinking it’s going to go in no matter what,” Miller said.
That’s where the sacrifice comes in. Miller could easily score 20 and grab 10 boards nightly, but he has no issues deferring to the talented underclassmen.
In his last bit of time in a Newport uniform, Miller has big goals for the rest of the season. The Wildcats have three games left in the regular season and then the 36th District Tournament, a tournament they’re trying to win for the first time since 2019.
That’s just the first step. Miller and the Wildcats believe this team can make it to Rupp. Others do to.
“That’s a team that could come out of this region. They’re really good,” Cooper coach Tim Sullivan said after Thursday’s game. Sullivan knows how to get there too, leading the Jaguars to Rupp in 2017 and finishing runner-up.
If Newport can conquer the 36th in what will most likely require a second win on Highlands’ home floor in the projected district championship matchup, they’d position themselves for a No. 1 seed in the Ninth Region tournament. The last time the Wildcats won the Ninth and made it to Rupp was 2010, the year prior to Snapp’s arrival on the bench.
In the four years Miller has been on the varsity team, they’ve yet to accomplish a district title or a Ninth Region tournament victory.
Miller’s been a part of the Wildcats since his freshman season, playing in 20 games and averaging 3.7 points per game. His junior year is when things started to click, averaging 15.4 points and pulling down 5.9 rebounds per game.
His efficiency in his senior season is through the roof. He has interest from Cumberlands and Georgetown at the NAIA level and wants to play in college.
“He didn’t understand he was good enough to play varsity as a freshman. He was still raw. Even last year half way through the year, we were still looking for that consistency. Now it’s really starting to click. Once he made a few visits to those colleges, he saw how those guys approached things and I think now he’s realized his potential,” Snapp said.
With Miller’s lead by example approach and the dynamic players on the Wildcats roster, there’s no reason why they can’t win three games at Truist Arena and make their way down to Lexington. It starts with Miller if they get there.
“These kids just want to win. In practice when we split them up and they want to win every drill. They play for blood in practice. They’re gym rats, when we’re not playing that night, you’ll see them at games or working out on their own time. They really want it, they really do,” Snapp said.
The Wildcats play at Dayton Monday, host St. Henry on Tuesday and Ludlow on Friday before they’ll play in the 36th District Tournament at Highlands next week. They’ll open up with the Dayton-Bellevue winner in the semifinals.
