Milleson starts Drury women's team from scratch

by Sony Hocklander

SBJ Contributing Writer

Nyla Milleson is Drury College's new and first head women's basketball coach. This first year of the new program will be one of preparation as a new team is formed, community support is developed and guidelines are learned.

Milleson is no stranger to developing improved women's basketball teams, but this is her first foray into creating a team from scratch.

"Probably the biggest challenge is the recruitment of players," Milleson said.

While most coaches recruit maybe a handful of players each year, Milleson and her staff are looking for a whole team of 12 to 14 new players.

The team's first playing season will be in 2000-2001. As with the men's team, the women's team will be part of the Heartland Conference and will be affiliated with NCAA Division II.

Coach Milleson attended high school in Goodland, Kan., where she was an all-around athlete, running track, and playing basketball and volleyball. She graduated in 1980, the same year her basketball team took the state championship.

She continued playing basketball in junior college, but said she traded in her basketball shoes for cowboy boots while at Kansas State University where she "rodeoed" for three years.

After graduating from Kansas State in 1985, Milleson became the assistant basketball coach at Junction City High School. Three years later, she became the school's head coach in November, earned her master's degree from Kansas State in December, and gave birth to her first child in January.

As Junction City's head coach, Milleson took the struggling team in hand and within four years turned a win-loss record of 3-18 to one of 19-6, with the team taking third place in the state championships that year. Milleson left Junction City, and since then, the team has been to the final four several times, she said.

"I kind of take credit for that turnaround," Milleson said. "I probably take as much pride in that as anything."

In 1992, Milleson took the head coach position at Glendale High School. Glendale had been to the final four but had never won a state championship until 1996, under Milleson's guidance. Following that success, the team took third at the final four the next year. Milleson's total career record at Glendale was 157-39.

"It was already a very successful program there, but I felt like I took them to the next level," Milleson said. She intends to bring that same level of success to the women's basketball program at Drury.

In recruiting, Milleson will consider quality athletes of sound academic standing. She plans to look at junior college transfers for the most part this first year, because "you can't bring in 10 freshmen."

There may even be students on campus now who could qualify for the team, and several have inquired, Milleson said.

All of the recruiting is being conducted for next year's season. As of this date, letters have been mailed out to prospective players and many responses have come back, Milleson said.

"First and foremost, to be able to be at Drury, you'll have to be a good student," she said. "It's very important for student athletes to keep their priorities. We stress being a good student athlete and remaining that way once you get here."

Milleson said she feels confident that she and her staff will be able to do much of their recruiting in southwest Missouri.

"We're fortunate that high school girls basketball is very strong. The Lady Bears (at Southwest Missouri State University) have had a huge impact on girls' basketball. There are lots and lots of young girls who aspire to be good basketball players."

In addition to recruiting players, Milleson and assistant coach Trish Marsh are working on putting together the 27-game schedule for the inaugural season. Seven teams are in the Heartland Conference, meaning a 12-game conference schedule. Milleson will fill in the 15 non-conference games with tournaments and single games, she said.

Also in the works is the development of community support in the form of a booster club, separate from the men's, to further support the team financially.

"Both men's and women's boosters provide room and board scholarships for our athletes," Milleson said. "We've had a number of people step up