Charlie Miller, who was a 6-foot-tall redshirt sophomore guard last season, is coming to NMU from the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

In 2024, Wildcats’ GLIAC Player of the Year Max Weisbrod left the Upper Peninsula for Northern Iowa, where he is still listed on the Panthers’ roster. Last season, Weisbrod appeared in all 33 Panthers’ games, starting the final dozen games after fully recovering from several foot injuries. Overall, he averaged 27.9 minutes and 6.5 points per game, along with two rebounds and 1.4 assists. His season high was 18 points vs. Bradley on Feb. 2, when he made five 3-pointers.

Miller is a native of Lumberton, North Carolina, and played in 24 games over the past two seasons at UNI, including 17 this past season when he averaged 2.8 minutes and 1.0 points per game. He had similar numbers in his redshirt freshman year, his second year at Northern Iowa.

In addition, his father Ben Miller was head coach at NCAA Division II North Carolina-Pembroke from 2008-19, while his grandfather Eldon Miller was a

nationally well-known head coach at Ohio State, Western Michigan, Northern Iowa and Wittenberg from 1962-98 with a record of 568-419.

“Charlie was the perfect fit for us out of the (NCAA transfer) portal,” Wildcats head coach Matt Majkrzak said in an NMU Sports Information news release announcing the move. “With 10 freshmen on next year’s roster, it was important for us to bring in a guard with college experience to be a great leader, on top of a key contributor.

“His background as a coach’s son and grandson, combined with his three years at Northern Iowa, fits our needs perfectly. Charlie fits the NMU ‘guard DNA’ and (he) is very unselfish and willing to make the right play. He’s a big-time shotmaker that we can use in ball screens or running off the ball.

“He’s a winner who can help us keep competing for conference championships.”

In high school, Miller averaged 16.4 ppg, 4.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.0 steals per game as a senior at Lumberton High School in 2020-21, the year his team reached the North Carolina Class 4A state final four.

Miller gives Majkrzak an incoming class that also includes seven freshmen announced in November — Nathan Fife, Pryce Gregoire, Keller Hanson, Brooks Hinson, Andrew Murphy, Trevor Polite and Ross Robertson.

Those freshmen include three guards, two forwards and a pair of wings who combined for a whopping 12,062 career points in high school.

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release reviewing/previewing the games/meet. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.