Cheryl Miller Is Out of Olympics : Injury to Her Right Knee Hasn’t Healed Sufficiently for U.S. Star

Cheryl Miller, who helped the United States win the gold medal in women’s basketball at the 1984 Summer Olympics, was released from the 1988 Olympic team Tuesday because a knee injury prevents her from going full speed, U.S. Coach Kay Yow said.

Miller was trying to come back from surgery to repair torn ligaments in her right knee, an injury she suffered in April, 1987. She reinjured the knee during drills on Saturday morning and had not practiced since.

“I don’t see it as a cut in that sense of the word,” Yow said in a telephone interview from her Colorado Springs hotel room. “It’s not that she was not good enough to make the team.

“That’s why I would say she was released due to medical reasons.”

Yow said that because of the injury, Miller wasn’t able to take part in all of the two-a-day workouts that began Aug. 1. Fifteen candidates remain and Yow must cut the roster to 12 by Sept. 2. The Summer Olympics begin Sept. 17 in Seoul, South Korea.

“I have to select a team and to do that, everybody has to be at full speed and able to go at all times,” Yow said. “It makes selecting the team very difficult if someone is unable to go full speed all the time.

“On the basis of fairness, my whole expectations were that everyone needed to go the whole time. At this time, it just wasn’t possible for Cheryl to do that.”

Miller said in a prepared statement: “I was disappointed about being released from the team but sometimes the mind says one thing and the body says another.”

Miller, who led USC to two NCAA championships, met with Yow on Monday afternoon to discuss her situation. The official announcement of her release was made Tuesday, although other players apparently expected it.

“I’m sure Cheryl was pushing for us to do well in Korea, so she’s still with us,” Cynthia Cooper, another Olympic hopeful, said Monday. “She’s pretty upset. She’s an Olympian, she’s a national champion, she’s an All-American.

“She has all these accomplishments, so when it all comes to an end, it’s real hard on a person,” said Cooper, a teammate of Miller’s at USC.

Miller played at USC from 1982-86, leading her team to NCAA titles in 1983 and ’84. She scored 2,985 points during her college career, an average of 23.7 per game.

“Obviously, I respect Cheryl’s ability tremendously. I’ve seen her at her very best,” Yow said. “Now, there are some other very good players who are trying out and have to be there at all the practices and scrimmages.

“I believe that Cheryl understands where I’m coming from. That’s not to say everyone will agree with me. But I did what I thought was the fairest to everyone.”

Yow said Miller “looked a little rusty” at a mini-camp this spring, but has improved since then.

“What she was doing was good,” Yow said, “but she was limited in what she could do.”