In the last 5.6 seconds Wednesday night, JD Miller was the only player to touch the ball for TCU.
That wasn’t supposed to happen.
But because he’s a highly experienced senior, it was OK.
The four-year veteran, playing in his 125th game for the Horned Frogs, took the inbound pass from freshman Kendric Davis near the timeline, dribbled into the frontcourt with Davis and Alex Robinson expecting his pass, veered past the foul line to the right of the lane, leaped and floated a jumper over an extended defender and into the net for the winning points in a 70-68 victory against Oklahoma State at Schollmaier Arena.
“To be truly honest, the play was not supposed to be to me,” the unexpected hero said. “I was supposed to pass back to KD, but it just happened it happened. And it worked out great.”
It was a heady play, made without hesitation, confidently, as if it was planned from the start. Which it wasn’t.
“It’s an option. It’s probably our last option, but it is an option,” coach Jamie Dixon said to reporters, drawing laughs. “I thought it would have been a better play for him to give it to Kendric because they took away Alex as we thought. It’s something we’ve practiced over and over. I don’t know that we’ve had it finish like that before. But he was in the spot he was supposed to be. Alex was in the spot. The other two guys were in the spot, and he had plenty of room to play.”
Given all that space, Miller took advantage with a senior-level play, much like he has been doing all season for the Frogs. The Seagoville High School product is second on the team in rebounds, third in minutes and fifth in scoring. He has started every game, is 12 points away from becoming the 38th player with 1,000 at TCU and has a chance to match the school record for games played (136 by Brandon Parrish).
When the inbound had to come to him, the moment was not going to be too big.
“Just having the mindset to do it,” Miller said, asked to explain his level of confidence in the clutch. “Just an easy play to make. A fadeaway jumper … I do it all the time in practice.”
In the postgame press conference, his teammates nodded.
“Every day,” Robinson said.
“That’s JD’s shot,” Desmond Bane said.
Miller is not called on for a lot of offense, although he has plenty of game for it. He averaged 24.5 points as an all-state senior in high school. He is a skilled finisher at the rim and has 3-point range, with 71 in his TCU career.
What the Frogs need most from Miller is defense and rebounding, which also win plenty of games.
To his credit, he bought in and has started every game this season.
“We’ve told him about being a better defender and being a better rebounder,” Dixon said in December. “He’s been huge. His jump in leadership has been dramatic, something I’m very proud of. Why we do this is to see guys grow. JD’s numbers as far as assists to turnovers have been an unbelievable improvement. That’s what we talked to him about, and he’s really brought a lot to the table.”
Who knows where TCU would be without Miller? Their roster is missing four players from the start of the year. He’s one of only four Frogs who played a Big 12 game before this season.
“He’s a good passer. Always been a good passer,” Dixon said. “Been a little loose with the ball, and the high turnovers came with it. But we’ve talked to him about making simple plays — two-hand passes. Used the word ‘fundamentals’ and ‘keep it simple’ and playing in space. He’s been doing it all year long.”
The sum total of the lessons is paying off in ways big and small for TCU. Wednesday night, his investment was rewarded at the bottom of a dogpile. Miller was the star of the night even as two teammates crossed career milestones.
“It’s a cool compliment, but JD stole the show,” said Robinson, who set the TCU assist record in the first half. “That was amazing.”
Said Bane, who scored his 1,000th point: “Like he said, JD stole the show. I mean, we hadn’t had that much fun in forever. I was smacking the top of his little bald head.”
Careful. It’s a valuable, experienced, heady little bald head.
