Miller’s #5 retired
LCA standout earns honor from alma mater
Brett Fowler | The Tribune
Number retirements are something rarely done except for those very few athletes that have such a lasting impact on their former institution or sports program.
For the Loganville Christian Academy basketball program, there is now one number permanently retired after Daniel Miller’s number 5 was retired Thursday night before the Lions boys and girls basketball games.
“It’s a great honor for him, we really appreciate the school doing that,” Miller’s father Preston Town said Thursday night after the ceremony.
Miller was unable to attend the ceremony due to the fact he is currently in Japan playing professional basketball for the Levanga Hokkaido.
“Unfortunately his travel schedule did not permit it,” Towns said. “He’s playing over somewhere in Japan tonight and wasn’t able to be here for the ceremony.
LCA athletic director Andre King told The Tribune that the school had been planning on retiring Miller’s number for some time, but wanted to try to work out the logistics to have miller there in person. Ultimately the school decided to retire the number during the Lions senior night ceremony while Miller’s brother, Caleb Towns, was being honored.
According to King, the only payers allowed to wear the number 5 moving forward will be Miller’s younger siblings. Towns and his wife Julie still have two children left who will play basketball for the Lions in the coming years.
“We still have two more kids who will come through the program and continue to wear number 5,” Towns said. “Joshua is in the eight grade now and he will wear the number and Jordyn is in the seventh grade and she will wear it as well, but when that’s done no one else will wear the number.”
Miller’s jersey retirement is certainly well deserved. He is the most high profile athlete to ever come out of the Loganville private school and helped lead the Lions to three straight state championships in the Independent Christian Schools of Georgia and Alabama under head coach Mark Davis. The 2009 graduate scored 1,477 career points, posted a 72-2 record during his time as a Lions, was a three time All-State selection from 2007-2009 and was nominated to the McDonald’s All-American team in his senior year. He also played football for one year while at LCA and was named the most improved player that season.
“A lot of people asked us when we first enrolled here ‘Is your kid going to get a shot at college?’ and my belief has always been if you’re good enough schools will find you,” Towns said. “(Miller) had a lot of offers coming out of high school and could have gone virtually anywhere he wanted.”
Miller originally signed a national letter of intent to play for Dennis Felton at the University of Georgia, but when Felton was fired during the 2009 season Miller asked to be released from his commitment and ended up signing with Georgia Tech.
While at Tech, the 6’11” center started every game of his four–year career, becoming just the second player ever in Georgia Tech history to do so. Miller also ranks second all time on the Yellow Jacket’s blocked shots list with 286 and eighth in career rebounds with 821. He finished his Georgia Tech career with 1,007 points.
Miller went undrafted in the 2014 draft, but signed with the Washington Wizards during the NBA summer league. Later that yea he signed with the Rio Natura Monbus Obradorio of Spain for the Liga ACB. The Following year, Miller signed with Akhisar Belediyespor of Turkey for the 2015-2016 season. His next stop was the Taranaki Mountainairs of the New Zealand Basketball league for the 2016 season before signing with his current team.
Daniel Miller’s family with his retired jerseys. Pictured, from left, are Tom Donaldson, Anna Joy Towns, Preston Towns, Caleb Towns, Evye Towns, Joe Miller, Abigayle Towns, Bayleigh Stockman, Jordyn Towns, Julie Towns and Gayle Donaldson.
