Roman Miller, ‘50, will be inducted into the SU Athletic Hall of Fame on May 23.
No. 1 Fan
by Mike Thee
While his name may not be as well known as those of Elgin Baylor and Eddie and Johnny O’Brien, Roman Miller, ’50, has been an important player in Seattle University athletics for more than six decades. His career began in the 1940s, when he played basketball for SU. Back then, in a nation still struggling to emerge from the Depression, gas rationing forced the team to travel to away games by bus or train. They practiced in the Knights of Columbus gymnasium near campus, where a balcony overhanging the court would often interfere with play. “You couldn’t shoot from the corner,” Miller says. And then there was World War II, which meant “every three weeks, it seems one of us would have to leave the team and go into service.”
Since graduating from SU, Miller has had a rather colorful career that’s run the gamut from teaching and coaching to volunteering for political campaigns, as well as scouting for a Major League Baseball club in Houston. Through it all, he has been a stalwart supporter of high school and college athletics in the region, with a particular fondness for athletic programs at Catholic schools. It’s a commitment rooted in his own upbringing—he’s the nephew of a Catholic priest and three nuns. Miller believes that Catholic education and athletics provide something more. “If I had to choose one word,” he says, “it’s discipline.”
I have personally welcomed Roman’s guidance and have leaned on him to learn more about the program’s history.
—Bill Hogan, athletic director
That discipline comes in handy for Miller as he keeps pace with a busy schedule. At 83, he’s fully ensconced in local sports, spending much of his time as a consultant to the athletic department at Archbishop Murphy High School in Everett, Wash., and as a member of the school’s board of trustees. The high school is like an extended family, he says. In early March, Archbishop Murphy dedicated its baseball venue the “Roman Miller Field” for Miller’s many contributions to the high school. Miller also has a strong affinity for SU. Miller regularly attends Redhawks games and is always on the lookout for his alma mater, whether it’s to encourage young athletes to consider SU or to bring a star player to the university’s attention. On May 23 he will be inducted into the SU Athletic Hall of Fame.
Able to recite book, chapter and verse of a game that took place 50 years ago, Miller is also a veritable sports historian. “I have personally welcomed Roman’s guidance and have leaned on him to learn more about the program’s history,” says Bill Hogan, SU’s athletic director. “As we try to tie ourselves in with our past, Roman helps us fill in the gaps.”
Miller’s command of SU’s athletic history is matched only by his excitement about the university’s return to Division I athletics. He particularly relishes the prospect of rekindling old rivalries.
“We used to beat Gonzaga for money, marbles or chalk, and look at them now,” he says. “We will compete. It’s going to take us a little while, but we will compete.”