Baba Miller
 Miller (left) in 2024 | |
| No. 18 – Florida Atlantic Owls | |
|---|---|
| Position | Power forward / small forward |
| League | American Athletic Conference |
| Personal information | |
| Born | February 7, 2004 Mallorca, Spain |
| Listed height | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) |
| Listed weight | 215 lb (98 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College |
|
| Playing career | 2021–present |
| Career history | |
| 2021–2022 | Real Madrid |
Papa Ababacar Bartolome Miller (born February 7, 2004) is a Spanish college basketball player for the Florida Atlantic Owls of the American Athletic Conference (AAC).
Early life
[edit]Miller was born on February 7, 2004, in Mallorca, one of the Balearic Islands in Spain.[1][2] He has British ancestry.[3] He began playing as a youth for CB Bahía San Agustín of Mallorca and later moved to Madrid to play for Distrito Olímpico.[3] At age 12, he joined Real Madrid Baloncesto and played with the organization through the 2021–22 season.[4][5] Starting with the youth B team, he played through all the team categories and was promoted to the senior team in December 2021, making his EuroLeague debut in a 71–65 win over PBC CSKA Moscow.[6][7][8] He was a member of Real Madrid's winning team in the 2020–21 Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament and averaged 11.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game with the Real Madrid B Team in 2021–22.[3][4][9]
College career
[edit]Miller decided to move to the United States and play for a team in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2022, stating that he thought it was best for his development.[3] Considered one of the top international prospects, he committed to play for the Florida State Seminoles over the Gonzaga Bulldogs.[10][11] Prior to the start of the season, Miller was suspended by the NCAA, initially for the entire year but later for 16 games, due to him having received US$3,000 in third-party money to attend a training camp in 2020; his family paid the money back once they learned that it violated NCAA rules, but the suspension was upheld, drawing widespread criticism.[12][13][14] He made his return from suspension against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, scoring four points and having four rebounds in a 90–75 loss.[15] He finished the season with 15 games played while averaging 4.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.[16]
Miller announced in April 2023 that he was returning for his sophomore season at Florida State rather than declaring for the 2023 NBA draft.[17]
In May 2024, Miller announced he was withdrawing from the NBA draft and that he would be transferring to Florida Atlantic University to play for 1st year Head Coach John Jakus.
International career
[edit]Miller played for the Spain men's national under-18 basketball team, including at the 2021 FIBA U18 European Challengers tournament where he averaged 11.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.[2] In 2023, he was a member of the national under-19 team that won the FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup, starting in the finals and recording 11 points scored and five rebounds in the game, while having an average of 9.4 points and 6.0 rebounds in the tournament.[18]
References
[edit]- ^ "Baba Miller". ESPN.
- ^ a b "Baba Miller". Florida State Seminoles.
- ^ a b c d Maestre, Mike; Hall, Andy (June 12, 2022). "Real Madrid lose youth team pearl Baba Miller to Florida State". Diario AS.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Conroy, Ben (January 11, 2023). "Baba Miller: Florida State's Mystery Freshman". Sports Illustrated.
- ^ Karels, Carter (June 6, 2022). "Florida State men's basketball lands pledge from top international prospect Baba Miller". Tallahassee Democrat.
- ^ "El canterano Baba Miller, inscrito por el Real Madrid para el partido ante el CSKA. Así juega la perla de la cantera blanca (vídeo)". Gigantes.com (in Spanish). December 22, 2021.
- ^ Jiménez, Jordi (December 24, 2021). "Baba Miller debuta con el primer equipo del Real Madrid en la Euroliga". COPE (in Spanish).
- ^ Corbella, Enrique (November 1, 2022). "Baba Miller: The enigmatic Spaniard who is ranked Top-10 in the NBA Draft without having made NCAA debut". Marca.
- ^ "NBA Draft Scouting Report: Florida State's Baba Miller". Sports Illustrated. August 30, 2022.
- ^ Ali, Asher (June 6, 2022). "It's Florida State over Gonzaga for Spanish prospect Baba Miller". Sports Illustrated.
- ^ Givony, Jonathan (June 6, 2022). "Top international basketball prospect Baba Miller commits to Florida State Seminoles". ESPN.
- ^ Veazey, Austin (November 3, 2022). "The NCAA's Last Stand: detailing the unjust suspension of Baba Miller". Sports Illustrated.
- ^ Karels, Carter (November 5, 2022). "Florida State men's basketball: Leonard Hamilton assesses Baba Miller situation, team before season". Tallahassee Democrat.
- ^ Kassim, Ehsan (January 11, 2023). "Freshman Miller to make debut for FSU at Wake Forest". The Stuart News. p. C5 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Baba Miller makes NCAA debut after lengthy suspension". Diario AS. January 12, 2023.
- ^ "Baba Miller wants to 'try to make things right' at FSU in return". Rivals.com. April 14, 2023.
- ^ Kassim, Ehsan (April 14, 2023). "Forward Baba Miller plans to return to Florida State men's basketball for sophomore season". Tallahassee Democrat.
- ^ Ferrante, Bob (July 11, 2023). "Baba Miller enjoys gold medal run, experience earned with Spanish team". Rivals.com.
