Colleen Mary “Coco” Miller (born September 6, 1978) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. She is the

identical twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

sister of fellow WNBA player Kelly Miller.

Early years

Born in

Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota, the city is the home and birthplace of the renowned Mayo Clinic. Acco ...

, Coco played basketball with her sister at Mayo High School, and made it to a championship in, where she lost in the finals. The twins also helped their school go 27-0 and win the

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

state's class 4A championship. Miller was named a WBCA All-American. She participated in the WBCA High School All-America Game where she scored eight points.

College years

The twins went to

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, where they both majored in biology and won a series of awards, including the

James E. Sullivan Award The AAU James E. Sullivan Award, presented by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), is awarded annually in April to "the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States". Representatives from the AAU created the AAU Sullivan Award with the int ...

, given to the nation's top amateur athlete. They earned that award in 1999, becoming the first pair of twins to earn the award, and joining

Carl Lewis Frederick Carlton Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is an American former track and field athlete who won nine Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold. His career spanned from 1979 to 1996, ...

Greg Louganis Gregory Efthimios Louganis (; born January 29, 1960) is an American Olympic diver, LGBT activist, and author who won gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics on the springboard and platform. He is the only man and the second diver in Ol ...

Bill Walton William Theodore Walton III (born November 5, 1952) is an American television sportscaster and former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for coach John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins, winning three consecutive national ...

Bill Bradley William Warren Bradley (born July 28, 1943) is an American politician and former professional basketball player. He served three terms as a Democratic U.S. senator from New Jersey (1979–1997). He ran for the Democratic Party's nomination f ...

, Kurt Thomas,

Jackie Joyner-Kersee Jacqueline Joyner-Kersee (born March 3, 1962) is a retired American track and field athlete, ranked among the all-time greatest athletes in the heptathlon as well as long jump. She won three gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals in tho ...

and

Janet Evans Janet Beth Evans (born August 28, 1971) is an American former competition swimmer who specialized in distance freestyle events. Evans was a world champion and world record-holder, and won a total of four gold medals at the 1988 and the 1992 O ...

as recipients of the award. Coco was among the top ten in that school's list among women basketball players in assists and steals. She participated in the

World University Games The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

, helping her team to a silver medal. She finished her college career fifth among SEC women in scoring at 16.6, second in free throw percentage at .743% from the free throw line, and eighth in steals with 160. She was a finalist for the Naismith award as the player of the year during her final college season.

Georgia statistics

Source

USA Basketball

Miller played on the team representing the US at the 1999 World University Games held in

Palma de Mallorca, Spain Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situated on the south coast of Mallorca ...

. The team had a 4–2 record and earned the silver medal. Miller averaged 8.3 points per game.

WNBA career

In 2001, Coco and Kelly entered the WNBA Draft. Coco was selected by the

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was founded pri ...

9th overall in the 1st round, where she averaged 6.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game in her rookie season. She played 250 total regular season matches for the Mystics through the end of the 2008 season, just nine short of Murriel Page's club record of 259. On May 11, 2009, Coco Miller was waived by the Mystics; four days later she was signed by the WNBA's Atlanta Dream. Her role in 2009 was as support and mentor for rookie point guard Shalee Lehning. In the 2010 regular season she was sent further down the depth chart, behind Lehning and her sister, newly acquired by the Dream. However, after Kelly Miller's ankle injury, Coco received more playing time. She started the first game of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against her former team, the Washington Mystics, and in this game she scored 21 points.

NWBL career

After the 2002 WNBA season, both sisters played for the

Birmingham Power The Birmingham Power was one of the original franchises of the National Women's Basketball League (NWBL). Based in Birmingham, Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United S ...

of the

National Women's Basketball League The National Women's Basketball League, often abbreviated to the NWBL, was an organization governing professional basketball leagues for women in the United States. The league was founded in 1997 and began play in the Fall of that year. The league ...

(NWBL).

International career

* 2002–2003: Fenerbahçe Istanbul (

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

) * 2003–2004: Fenerbahçe Istanbul (

) * 2006–2007: Lattes-Maurin Montpellier (

LFB The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the Fire department, fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865, under the leadership of superintendent Eyre Massey Shaw. It ha ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

)

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, style="text-align:left;",

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

, 20 , , 0 , , 6.9 , , .325 , , .333 , , .545 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 0.7 , , 1.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 32 , , 28.3 , , .433 , , .375 , , .821 , , 3.6 , , 2.6 , , 1.0 , , 0.1 , , 1.8 , , 9.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 33 , , 32.6 , , .450 , , .360 , , .698 , , 3.8 , , 2.6 , , 1.2 , , 0.2 , , 1.6 , , 12.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 8 , , 19.3 , , .431 , , .263 , , .786 , , 1.9 , , 1.3 , , 0.6 , , 0.1 , , 0.8 , , 4.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 34 , , 4 , , 14.7 , , .425 , , .375 , , .800 , , 1.7 , , 1.3 , , 0.8 , , 0.1 , , 0.8 , , 4.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 34 , , 4 , , 19.4 , , .491 , , .400 , , .897 , , 2.7 , , 1.7 , , 1.0 , , 0.1 , , 1.4 , , 6.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , 2 , , 15.2 , , .405 , , .400 , , 1.000 , , 1.6 , , 0.8 , , 0.6 , , 0.1 , , 1.0 , , 4.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 34 , , 6 , , 20.9 , , .355 , , .283 , , .625 , , 2.5 , , 1.4 , , 0.8 , , 0.2 , , 1.7 , , 5.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, style="text-align:left;",

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, 34 , , 5 , , 12.0 , , .410 , , .296 , , .885 , , 1.5 , , 1.0 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 0.9 , , 3.9 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 27 , , 0 , , 7.3 , , .400 , , .192 , , .857 , , 0.6 , , 0.8 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 0.7 , , 3.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 5 , , 17.4 , , .432 , , .333 , , .541 , , 1.9 , , 1.4 , , 0.6 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 7.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, style="text-align:left;",

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, 10 , , 1 , , 14.1 , , .297 , , .333 , , 1.000 , , 2.7 , , 1.1 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 1.3 , , 2.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 12 years, 3 teams , 352 , , 100 , , 18.1 , , .423 , , .336 , , .764 , , 2.1 , , 1.4 , , 0.7 , , 0.1 , , 1.2 , , 5.8

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 5 , , 32.6 , , .420 , , .545 , , .600 , , 3.0 , , 2.4 , , 0.4 , , 0.0 , , 1.4 , , 10.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 3 , , 0 , , 17.0 , , .368 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 2.3 , , 0.7 , , 1.7 , , 0.0 , , 0.7 , , 5.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 2 , , 0 , , 18.5 , , .467 , , .500 , , .250 , , 3.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 2.0 , , 8.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 2 , , 0 , , 6.5 , , .600 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.5 , , 3.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 7 , , 7 , , 25.7 , , .391 , , .263 , , .789 , , 2.7 , , 3.3 , , 1.3 , , 0.0 , , 2.0 , , 10.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 8 , , 0 , , 8.0 , , .200 , , .200 , , .500 , , 1.3 , , 0.9 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 0.5 , , 1.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 6 years, 2 teams , 27 , , 12 , , 18.8 , , .388 , , .368 , , .676 , , 2.1 , , 1.8 , , 0.8 , , 0.0 , , 1.2 , , 6.6

Notes

External links

*
WNBA Article and interview with both sisters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Coco 1978 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American women's basketball players Atlanta Dream players Basketball players from Minnesota Fenerbahçe women's basketball players Georgia Lady Bulldogs basketball players Identical twins James E. Sullivan Award recipients Los Angeles Sparks players Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) Shandong Six Stars players Shooting guards Sportspeople from Rochester, Minnesota American twins Twin sportspeople Universiade medalists in basketball Universiade silver medalists for the United States Washington Mystics draft picks Washington Mystics players