Miller remembered as a friend, mentor and biggest fan of university
By Kevin Cunningham
sports correspondent
James “Jim” B. Miller III, a former UW-Whitewater head baseball coach, passed away at the age of 74 on March 9. Simply calling him a former head baseball coach, however, does not even begin to reflect on what he meant to not just UW-Whitewater, but the Whitewater community as a whole.
“There have been a lot of coaches who have spent a lot of time at Whitewater,” current Warhawk head baseball coach John Vodenlich said. “The reason he is unique to me, is because he did so many things for Whitewater. He was as fair and as good of a person as you could imagine. He never said, ‘Hey, I want to go talk to the AD (Athletic Director) to try and go get something and take it away from another program’. He loved every program there, almost sometimes to my frustration.
“My mentality was, let’s put the baseball program first. And I’m not saying he didn’t do that, but he didn’t do it in an adversarial way whatsoever, and that’s the most impressive thing I’ve ever seen. He would call me on a Saturday asking me if I was coming to see the football game. He would ask me if I’m coming to a mid-week basketball game. He would call me in the middle of the summer asking if I had heard something about a volleyball player. I guarantee you; there was no bigger fan of every program at the University than Mills.”
“Mills” is a name many use when referring to Miller. Former UW-Whitewater Athletic Director, Paul Plinske, who is the current Athletic Director at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, said he refers to him as Mills in the most professional and respectful way. In a past interview, former Warhawk head football coach Bob Berezowitz referred to Miller as “Mr. Whitewater.”
The term “Mr. Whitewater” seems like a perfect fit. Growing up, Miller’s backyard was literally the UW-Whitewater campus. In an interview in 2011, Miller said that once Hyer Hall was remodeled, he had seen every building that has been built on campus.
At the time, UW-Whitewater operated an Elementary and High School, both of which Miller attended. Miller then attended UW-Whitewater and graduated in 1965 with Bachelor in Education in Social Studies. As an undergraduate, Miller showed his love for all sports when he worked for the athletic department, filming football games with an 8mm camera.
In 1969, after working as Fort Atkinson High School’s psychical education and driver’s education teacher, Miller worked as an equipment manager for the Warhawks. Before retiring in 20013 as the head baseball coach, Miller was a sports information director, director of Warhawk Stadium, the head men’s basketball coach, an assistant professor and chair of the Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Coaching Department.
During his time as the baseball coach, which ran from 1987-2003, he turned the baseball program around, never enduring a losing season. Miller laid down the foundation and allowed Vodenlich to take over a program on the rise.
Vodenlich said he learned a lot from Miller, dating back to his playing days when he played under Miller, but one thing stuck out to him that helped guide him to become the baseball coach he is today.
“Most people think it’s like coaching your high school baseball team, but you’re essentially the CEO of the Warhawk baseball team,” Vodenlich said. “You have to raise money, you have to recruit players, you have a human resource responsibility, you have an equipment and facility component, you for sure have an accounting component, you have a secretarial component, there’s a marketing component and a public outreach component.
“My first impression I had of him was that I couldn’t believe he spent so much time on other aspects of the program. That is probably for me, the one area that has served me best. Being the coach of a national power – a very small percentage of it is being a coach to the players. He’s the most genuine person I’ve met and he always would push the credit to the players. For me, he’s the best model I could have asked for.”
Miller originally didn’t have an assistant coach during his first few years as head coach, but Vodenlich talked about the bond they shared and how Miller created the assistant coaching position for Vodenlich.
After retiring, Miller continued his duties at UW-Whitewater as a special assistant to the director of intercollegiate athletics. He worked closely with Plinske, who at the time was the Warhawks’ athletic director. Plinske spoke highly of Miller and talked about all he meant to the community.
“The best phrase I could give is that he’s a servant leader,” Plinske said. “He served others, but during it, he led them and people knew that Mills would take off his shirt if somebody needed it. He just cared so much for other people. But he did it by supporting them, loving them and being there for them. It’s a testament to him, about his passion and what he did for the entire community.
“The times I will remember most is when he would come into my office and sit across from me and just give me support and guidance. As a first-time athletic director in an incredibly successful athletic department, Jim was always there to be a support and a friend and to give advice. He would do that for everyone.
“I’m very thankful that I got a chance to get to know him. He lived an outstanding life. He would always talk to me about how fortunate he was to grow up and live in Whitewater,” Plinske said.
In 2009, the baseball stadium was renamed after him – Prucha Field at James B. Miller Stadium. Vodenlich had one final story about Miller when asked about one specific memory he had, even though there were countless.
“I can’t tell you how excited he was when we won the national championship in 2005,” a teary-eyed Vodenlich said. “He retired in 2003, and then in 2004 we took a trip to the College World Series for the first time in a long time. He played a huge role because there were many of his players that he and I together recruited.
“And he saw that, and to see his excitement for winning the College World Series in ’05 – I think lesser men would have been jealous, upset or envious that he didn’t do it, because I mean they were his players. He was such a dear friend to me that he and I were just able to enjoy that experience. During that time, he was a mentor to me and told me to just enjoy it, don’t take it for granted,” Vodenlich said.
“He was probably as happy for us winning the national championship as I was which once again, tells you the kind of bond we had and the kind of bond he had to the University.”
