Len Miller

Legal Name: Leonard Miller
Date of Death: May 1, 1945

Leonard (Len) Miller, played basketball and football at Kentucky

A native of Lexington, Miller was a graduate of the old Lexington (Henry Clay) high school and played on two national championship basketball teams.  He captained the Blue Devils to the state title over Fort Thomas, 15-10 in 1924. He gained recognition at the University of Kentucky as one of the best quarterbacks in the south, and Harry Gamage, former head football coach at Kentucky, praised him as the smartest player he ever coached.

While playing football in high school, he tore some cartilage in his left knee, and never recovered sufficiently to make the great athletic star he was predicted he would be.  However, as a freshman at UK, he captained the freshman football team while wearing a knee brace.  He had the cartilage removed the next year but, thereafter the knee would fly out of place.  

Miller played on the 1927 Wildcat eleven with such men as Elmer (Baldy) Gilb, Paul Jenkins, Ray Ellis, and Gayle Mohney. He was unable to play much after that year because of his knee injury, but after being graduated in 1929 was added to the coaching staff. He remained at the University for that season only but returned as an assistant grad mentor in 1932-33.

Miller graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from UK in 1931 and a Master of Arts degree from UK in 1937.

In 1936, Miller went to Morehead as head of the athletic department.  He was the head men’s basketball coach for Morehead State from 1943-45. He took over for Ellis T. Johnson during World War II.

Miller was a dedicated assistant under Johnson for many years in both football and basketball. He put fine seasons together as head basketball coach in Johnson’s absence, going 12-3 and 16-6, including a Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship. His combined head coaching record was 28-9.

The Len Miller Room in the Academic-Athletic Center is named in his honor.  In the fall of 1945, Morehead State’s Mystic Club was organized in Coach Len Miller’s honor.  This is the “Pep Club” of the campus and its duties include the supervision of electing cheerleaders and planning all rallies on the campus. It fosters keen interest and participation in all sports.

He died from chronis nephritis at 9 a.m. on May 2, 1945, at St. Joseph Infirmary in Louisville, Kentucky.  He had been battling the illness for several months. He was 38.  Nearly 1,000 people attended his funeral which was held in the Morehead State auditorium.  Attendees included many of his former teammates, players and Adolph Rupp.  He was buried in Lee Cemetery in Morehead, Kentucky, overlooking the athletic field, Jayne Memorial stadium, where he made his outstanding contributions to the athletic history of Morehead State.

1928-29 Junior Season

1927-28 Sophomore Season