Five years into her Grand Canyon University tenure, Molly Miller has yet to stray from what made her exceptional in Springfield.
The former Kickapoo guard who went on to star at hometown NCAA Division II power Drury — as a player and later as head coach — still leans into a staunch defensive approach. It helped her post a gaudy 67-1 record her final two seasons at Drury before making an ascending move to Phoenix to lead a program that had never previously reached a Western Athletic Conference final.
Miller and the Lopes now own the second-longest active win streak in Division I women’s basketball (17 games) for what’s been a burgeoning mid-major operation.
The 38-year-old Miller has had GCU on the cusp of an NCAA Tournament berth in previous years, but after a program-affirming sweep of Arizona and Arizona State and a subsequent tear through the WAC, a corner appears to have been turned.
Miller, who often sees her name in rumor mills as a candidate at high-major schools, is enjoying the warm climate with her young family but still keeps southwest Missouri close to heart.
She believes GCU is a destination school with high-major potential, offering a similar environment and community-minded support she experienced at Drury.
Miller recently spoke to the Daily Citizen about her career, her time in Springfield and what she has done to sustain success in an ever-changing basketball landscape.
Ryan Collingwood: How have you been able to cultivate success in a relatively timely fashion at Grand Canyon?
Molly Miller: You have to have a little bit of patience. (Grand Canyon) was set up to succeed, it just hadn’t reached that next level as a program. And even in the last five years, GCU name recognition has increased with our men’s team being so successful and advancing in the NCAA Tournament, as well as our success. When I first got here, our team had yet to reach the championship game of our conference tournament, then we did that our first two years. Even this year, to take it up a notch and beat both Arizona and Arizona State, that was a big step in the advancement of our program and brand. It’s been a process. We had some initial success but there was a higher level to reach, and I think we’re seeing that this year in being one of the top mid-majors in the country and being in the conversation of NCAA Tournament berths. I think we’re there right now. Getting your culture to that level does take a bit of a transition period, and we’ve had success in that transition period, which has been nice.”
RC: Was there much of learning curve making the jump from Division II to Division I?
MM: A little bit. I’m pretty convicted in some of the X’s and O’s we do, so I’m glad that translated. The nice thing about Division II is that I did a lot of (behind-the-scenes work) myself, so I was able to manage and delegate more. That was probably the biggest difference, the amount of support, people and resources I had. I think the biggest learning curve has come in the last five years with the changing landscape. You have to navigate the transfer portal, and NIL is now a thing. That’s probably the biggest adjustment I’ve faced being here, not necessarily Division II to Division I, but the new environment in college athletics.
RC: Was Division I always the goal? Many coaches can find happiness and less stress at the small college and high school levels while others want to take it as far as they can.
MM: I wasn’t really motivated by level, monetary things or status. I knew if I was going to be a coach it had to be at a place I could do it the right way and where we had the resources to win and where I was supported. I had all of that at Drury and I thought I could have been at Drury for life. But when the opportunity at Grand Canyon came, I educated myself about what they were about — a private, Christian university with no football program, what I had at Drury. It was an opportunity to have resources and win and spread my wings a little bit and cast a little wider net in my career and as a person. I wasn’t looking (for a Division I job), honestly. We were undefeated at Drury (in 2019-2020) and had our season cut short due to COVID and I was looking ahead to getting the next Drury team to a national championship. GCU was just a good fit. I had the opportunity in previous years at Drury to jump to Division I, it just wasn’t the right fit or the right time. I was patient.
RC: Is that happening now, as far as being contacted for a bigger job? Your name has often surfaced as a potential candidate for bigger programs by pundits in the social mediasphere, for what that’s worth.
MM: The nice thing is that I have an agent who deals with all of that. I don’t really have to filter phone calls, so I can focus on my team, which is nice. Every spring you see the coaching carousel and it gets a little crazy, but right now I’m in such a good position. I love where I’m at, I love the people I work with, I love how we do it and being part of a Christian university that mirrors my faith and philosophies on life and learning and teaching and mentorship. I get asked about “the next level,” but Grand Canyon can be that next level. The best parallel is a school like Gonzaga, which I think is possible here and that’s my job to get us to that next level.
RC: What are the specific things, basketball-wise, from your philosophies at Drury that translated the most to GCU?
MM: I’m pretty convicted in the way we play defense, so it was nice to see that translate. A lot of pressure, we’ll do a lot of trapping, pressing and definitely a high-octane defense. Our offense has evolved, we really cater to the personnel that we have. We have some athleticism on the court and some great slashers. They’re surrounded by one of the best shooters in the country (Alyssa Durazo-Frescas) and we have a post player (Laura Erikstrup) who is averaging a near double-double. We have all of the components of a good team, one through five, they really complement each other well… We have quick-hitters to our shooters, downhill sets for slashers, isolation plays for our post-players. We can really kind of manipulate what we’re doing.”
RC: Are you still in touch with a lot of your Springfield hoops connections?
MM: I have one on my staff, Daejah Bernard, who was my point guard at Drury and one of the best to play there. I talked her into coaching. She has a great I.Q. and was good point guard for me, probably the best defender I ever coached so she can talk the defensive talk, too. But, yes. I keep up with a lot of them. Some of them got married, had some kids so it’s been nice to see their lives evolve. We had a really good group and some of them are in coaching. I’m proud of their lives and what they’re doing.
RC: When you accepted the position in the spring of 2020, the transfer portal was still in its genesis and NIL had not been introduced, a stark contrast from today’s college hoops reality. That’s a lot to tackle in your first Division I gig. How do you think you’ve handled all of it?
MM: I don’t think anyone could have predicted this. It was a drastic change. I’m in the front nine of my career, so I couldn’t imagine what it’s been like for the coaches on their back nine in how they’ve approached recruiting and retention. It used to be ‘Hey, I’ve got an in with this player, I’ve known this player for a while, we’ve built a good relationship, they can trust me’ which now seems secondary to the monetary benefits they can receive. But you learn to adapt, and I think that’s very important and I think we’ve done a good job in the portal. We don’t have a mass exodus in our sports here, but we’ve been able to bring some players in because of our reputation and the resources. It’s a good destination city.
RC: Have you been keeping tabs on Drury?
MM: Oh yeah. Amy Eagan, who took over when I left, is now at (Division I) Lindenwood and doing great things and building that program. Kaci Bailey (Drury’s current coach) is doing a great job. Their athletic director, Nyla Milleson, has come full circle because she was my coach at Drury and now she’s running the whole department. I talk to her often and she is one of my best mentors and friends.
RC: Have you noticed an increase in overall talent at the Division II level since the introduction of the portal?
MM: I think (the portal) allows you to find your correct level. Some of these who didn’t get as much as an opportunity they would have liked at Division I, they can really shine somewhere else.
RC: Seventeen consecutive wins is impressive. How has your team handled the attention that has come the streak?
MM: That’s not locker room talk for us. Last night we said ‘Great win, but now we’re 0-0.’ We have a target on our back, so the challenge of this team is understanding what it means to get everyone’s best shot. Records are thrown out the window. If they beat GCU, that’s their Super Bowl and a feather in their cap. That’s the big challenge, not getting wrapped up in (the streak), but to push yourself and prepare for every team the same. They say losing is tough, but I say sustained winning is even harder. For us that’s the challenge this year, but it’s definitely a testament to where our program has been, where it is and where it’s going.
RC: How big was it to beat both of Arizona’s major instiutions (Arizona and Arizona State) this season? That must carry a lot of weight, especially in the Phoenix and Tucson areas.
MM: You can put us in their category. I always felt like we could get there and that we belong and now we’ve proven that to the outside world. Internally, we go into those games thinking we can win and we’ve proven this is the next step for the program. Then we also beat Northern Arizona, which would been a flop if we lost to them after beating the two biggest schools in the state. We are happy to be on this level. It’s a testament to the administration and resources that have been poured into this school. You can only go as far as your school supports you, so it’s kind of a reflection of what they’re doing to get to that next level.
