A leader, a supporter and a hard worker: Mariah Miles

In a small town called Geary, Oklahoma, a young Native American girl, with a strong sense of leadership, grew up playing basketball on a dirt paved driveway with a rollaway hoop. Over 10 years later that little girl now plays basketball on polished wood with a glass backboard.

Mariah Miles finishes up her last season playing basketball for Utah State University this year.

“It’s bittersweet but it’s been a blessing,” Miles said.

Miles really started to take basketball seriously in sixth grade, when her father poured a concrete-slab half court at their house so she could practice her skills.

Miles’s father, Gib Miles, played basketball for Southern Nazarene University from 1974-1979. He raised all four of his daughters to play basketball. Miles crafted her technique with the help of her competitive sisters and father.

Utah State women’s basketball coach Jerry Finkbeiner played basketball with Mile’s father and they remained friends throughout their lives. Finkbeiner has been in Mile’s life since she was born.

When Miles graduated from Calumet High School, Finkbeiner recruited her to play for him at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

“She was the best player on the team her senior year in high school,” Finkbeiner said.

After one year at Oral Roberts, Miles followed Finkbeiner to USU.

“It’s been really fun playing for coach Fink,” Miles said. “I always wanted to play for him.”

Miles redshirted her first year at USU and then played the next three years for the Aggies.

“The atmosphere of Aggie athletics and the support that they give to their athletes has been a great experience,” Miles said.

Miles plays guard for the team. She has played in 67 games, starting in one of those games in her college career at USU.

“I know my role on this team,” Miles said. “I take pride in my defense and taking care of the ball, making right decisions, listening to coach and knowing what he wants. All of that comes with experience.”

According to Finkbeiner and Micha Thompson, an assistant coach for the team, Miles is their reserve player who is stable and reliable.

“She knows and we know we can put her on the floor and she stabilizes the group,” Thompson said. “We needed that leadership on the floor with our team being so young.”

Miles’s teammates share the same amount of trust in her as the coaching staff does.

“She knows her exact role and she knows exactly how to play it out,” said sophomore guard Funda Nakkasoglu. “You can count on her to get the job done.”

Thompson said she was once talking about Mile’s senior night and she started to tear up.

“We’re going to have a hard time replacing her in our program,” Thompson said. “She takes care of everyone and does a good job of making everyone feel like family on the team.”

Miles brings stability, trust and leadership not only on the court but also off the court.

Finkbeiner said she is the face of the program. She is very involved in the community, she creates an environment where everyone participates and she is always the one to lead youth camps and set a good example for them said Finkbeiner.

“When I was a freshman I had a good example of seniors to look up to on how to lead,” Miles said. “Overall, I’m just trying to be the best teammate I can on and off the court and always show support for my teammates.”

Miles’s Native American heritage has influenced who she is as a person and as a player. Her Native American culture is very family oriented. Support and having each other’s backs is a very big part of the culture Miles said.

“Being Native American, I always know there are people behind me,” Miles said.

Miles recalls a story her dad used to tell about a warrior who went into battle knowing he was alone. He stuck his lance in the ground to declare battle and moments later the rest of his tribe too stuck their lances in the ground to show that they were behind him.

“My parents and sisters have continuously reminded me they are there for me with their lances behind me,” Miles said.

Thompson said she noticed how special Miles’s Native American heritage is to her.

“She’s doing it for her sisters on the floor with her and she does it for her family back home,” Thompson said. “She makes them proud.”

“I feel secure and I always know she has my back when she’s on the court,” Nakkasoglu said.

Miles’s work ethic stands out as much as her leadership and support.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a down practice by Mariah,” Finkbeiner said. “She’s always ready and that takes emotional, mental and physical perspective to never have an off day.”

Finkbeiner said that is the “ultimate respect and compliment that you can give a player.”

“Mariah has a blue collar work ethic,” Thompson said. “She picks a skill or something extra to work on every year in the off season.”

Nakkasoglu said Miles has a “never give up” kind of attitude.

“She is always going to make you look better and feel better after you come in contact with her,” Thompson said. “She’s an incredibly strong young lady that I have had the privilege to know for the last six years.”

Miles will still be a part of USU while she finishes her second bachelor’s in business administration but she will play the final games of her college career in March.

“It’s been quite a ride,” Miles said.

— biancapahl15@gmail.com

Twitter: @BiancaAdrianna1