Best UCLA basketball players ever: Bruins all-time starting 5

SG – Reggie Miller

Reggie Miller is another Bruin who has family ties to the hated Trojans — his sister Cheryl Miller was a star basketball player at USC. Known now for his sharpshooting 3-point exploits in the NBA, the NCAA didn’t institute the 3-point line into their game until Miller’s senior year. However, it didn’t take long for him to make the most of it. In his one season with the 3-point line, Miller shot 43.9 percent from deep with 69 of his 247 field goal attempts coming from behind-the-arc.

By the time he was in Westwood, freshmen were no longer forced to play for a separate team and though he didn’t contribute much in his first year with the program he was on the team and played in 28 games. After getting his feet wet in year one, Miller would average 15.2, 25.9 and 22.3 PPG respectively in his final three seasons. The 25.9 scoring average was a single-season record for the conference until Harold Miner (26.3) and Terrell Brandon (26.61) bested him in the early 90s. It does remain the highest scoring average for a season in UCLA history.

His game in college didn’t differ much from what it would go on to be at the next level, but he had not yet fully discovered his trash-talking ways yet in college. Miller was still a cold-blooded killer on the basketball court. He drained memorable and clutch shots to beat Notre Dame and defending-champion Louisville in the 1987 season.

Miller still holds multiple other Bruins records and was twice selected to the All-Pac-10 team. He was named Pac-10 Tournament MVP after helping UCLA win its first conference tournament in 1987 and he was also chosen as the NIT MVP in 1985. In 2010 he was inducted into the Pac-12 Conference Hal of Honor and his number 31 jersey was retired by the school in 2013.