WNBA: Diamond Miller’s journey from Maryland Terps to Minnesota Lynx

Diamond Miller will go down as one of the greatest Maryland Terrapins of all time and now starts a new journey with the Minnesota Lynx.

• By
  
  Zachary Ward
  
• on April 16, 2023 9:00 am

Diamond Miller told Rashad Milligan in a Swish Appeal interview that she was on the shorter side when she first started playing basketball, which is why she developed guard abilities. She has of course grown into the most enticing big guard prospect in her draft class. She is a long 6-foot-3 and is known for her pesky poking at the ball on defense and her long strides in transition.

Miller became Franklin High School’s all-time leading scorer as a junior, so the Warrior faithful of Somerset, New Jersey knew she was a special talent who was potentially destined for greatness at the next level or levels. And do you know who she passed to sit atop the program’s all-time scoring list? It was her sister, Adreana.

Miller’s older sisters, Adreana and Laniya, both played Division I basketball and, along with Miller’s father, Lance, inspired her love of the game. Miller also has a younger brother, Landen, who she plays against.

Growing up with these siblings in Somerset, one town northwest of New Brunswick and Rutgers University, Miller won three Group 4 state titles and two Tournament of Champions titles. As a senior, she was named New Jersey’s Gatorade Player of the Year. Her father, who played at Villanova and professionally overseas, coached her in AAU on Team Miller Lightning, a team that also found success.

When it came time for college, Miller didn’t play for her hometown Scarlet Knights, but also didn’t want to go as far away as Notre Dame, a storied women’s basketball school that was interested in her. So, as so many New Jerseyans do, she went to the University of Maryland. In addition to the location being ideal, she was impressed by the Terp coaching staff.

Four years later, her strong bond with Maryland head coach Brenda Frese is set in stone. Frese was at the WNBA Draft on Monday watching Miller go second overall to the Minnesota Lynx.

It was a college career that saw a lot of heartbreak, with the Terps missing out on a potential No. 1 seed due to the tournament’s cancellation in 2020 and bowing out at the Sweet Sixteen stage in 2021 and 2022, which was early based on their talent level both years. But a hypothetical Final Four, two Sweet Sixteens and an Elite Eight is quite impressive, with that Elite Eight appearance coming this past season and being extra sweet after a two-year struggle to get over the hump.

Miller averaged 17.1 points as a sophomore and 19.7 as a senior. When Angel Reese and Ashley Owusu transferred elsewhere after the 2022 season, she remained loyal to Frese and Terp…