Behind the scenes with Diamond Miller at the WNBA draft

Miller’s life will change forever in the evening, but at this point — as she sports a red Under Armour shirt, black shorts, white socks and sandals — she is en route to prepare for her third wardrobe change of a day that started at 7:15 a.m.

Draft day is the culmination of a lifetime of work and dreams coming true in a flurry of pomp and circumstance. It’s also an exhausting ordeal of being shuffled from place to place and trying to enjoy the moment while dealing with friends, family and media obligations.

“Who knew a ball — an orange ball — could do so much in someone’s life, especially my life?” Miller says as she let out a laugh. “Play sports — that is my recommendation.”

That early wake-up call at least comes with a simple outfit choice, the first of the day. Each prospect wears the familiar orange WNBA hoodie for a 9 a.m. tour at the Empire State Building to start a long day of photo ops. Hoodie, black leggings and sneakers suffice as Miller and the prospects join Commissioner Cathy Engelbert on the bottom floor as Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell flips the switch to turn the tower lights orange.

Miller walks through the door with her phone in hand — it rarely left her throughout the day — and hangs toward the back, smiling and chatting with Tennessee guard Jordan Horston, who would be selected No. 9 overall by the Seattle Storm. Miller is first to get a solo picture with the switch, a black-and-gold contraption with a silver handle, to the applause of the group as her deep, echoing giggle bounces off the walls.

S. Carolina’s Aliyah Boston, Maryland’s Diamond Miller go 1-2 in WNBA draft

The tour winds to the 86th-floor observatory where Miller, phone ready for selfies, is the first to walk in the right direction as handlers have to corral the rest of the group, which had made a wrong turn. Stanford guard Haley Jones carries an old-school handheld video camera to record content — she admits it took an hour to figure it out the previous night.

After ogling the views as a self-proclaimed tourist — Miller had never been despite growing up in New Jersey — it’s back to the…