Jason Miller

JOHN DAY – Jason Miller was looking for a good place to raise his family, and the Grant School District 3 School Board was happy to help him out.

In its May 14 meeting, the board approved Miller as the new Grant Union High School boys basketball coach and weights and physical education teacher. He will take over the basketball coaching position from Brad Smith, who resigned in April.

Miller, who currently teaches at Summit High School in Bend, went to high school in Halfway and said he wanted his kids, ages 4 and 7, to go to school in a small community.

“I myself grew up in a small town and Bend is getting to be a big, crazy hectic place,” Miller said. “I’ve been looking for somewhere nice for my family, and that’s what attracted me to John Day.

“The high schools here (in Bend) have 1,300 to 2,200 students and I couldn’t see myself sending my kids to a school that size. There’s so many more athletic and academic opportunities for them at a smaller school.”

Miller graduated from Pine Eagle High School in 1991, and studied biology and coaching at Eastern Oregon University.

After college Miller began teaching, and he has been coaching basketball and football for 12 years. In addition to his high school coaching, Miller coached a semiprofessional football team, the High Desert Lightning. He played semiprofessional football for four years.

Miller said he likes to pressure the basketball on defense and plans to run man-to-man defense, zone traps and a full court press. He said he wants to press the ball down the court, but that the offense will depend a lot on the size and ability of the players on the team.

“If we get four or five guys that are like 6-foot-10, we’re obviously not going to run the court, we’re going to get it inside,” Miller said. “For me, the main thing I coach is work ethic and drive, without that you’re not going to succeed at anything let alone basketball.”

Miller will also be helping out all of the sports with conditioning and weight lifting. However, he said he hopes to develop a strong conditioning program for all of the students at the school, not just the athletes.

“In Bend I got involved with the power-lifters and got really into the training aspect of it,” Miller said. “We work on explosiveness, speed and quickness, and I hope to bring it to Grant Union. It’s important for athletes, students and anyone who wants to improve themselves.”

Grant Union athletic director Curt Shelley echoed Miller’s sentiments about the importance of weight training for everyone.

“The focus of our weight program isn’t athletics, it’s to develop healthy, lifelong, full time learners,” Shelley said. “Having the weight program available as part of the curriculum is good for athletes if it doesn’t conflict with other classes, but we want all of the students to feel comfortable with weight lifting.”

The complete 2008-09 sports schedule will be available from (http://www.grantesd.k12.or.us/Grant_Union/athletics.htm) by the end of the school year.