Titans’ Miller to Play Pro Basketball in Japan

Genia Miller, who earned Kodak All-American honors as a senior at Cal State Fullerton, will play professional basketball in Japan beginning this summer.

Miller, a 6-foot-3 center who was the nation’s second-leading scorer (29.4 points a game) and shot-blocker (4.4) and seventh-leading rebounder (12.3), has agreed to a one-year contract with the Tokyo-based Japan Airlines team. She says the deal will pay her about $100,000 this season.

Her New York-based agent, Bruce Levy, is finalizing details of the contract, which he said will include a furnished apartment, language lessons, a comprehensive insurance policy and a trip home for Christmas. Miller said she expects to sign by mid-June.

Miller will be playing in the 12-team First Division Japanese League--the best of three women’s professional leagues in the country--and the season will run from August to January.

“I’m really excited,” said Miller, who passed up an opportunity to try out for the U.S. Pan American team this summer. “I can’t wait to get over there. If I like it, I hope to play for about five years.”

Miller, a four-year starter who led the Titans to a 25-8 record and the second round of the NCAA tournament this past season, used her outstanding leaping ability and a soft inside touch to become the Big West Conference’s most dominant player in 1990-91.

Miller, a graduate of Crenshaw High in Los Angeles, never scored fewer than 20 points in a game, and her .601 field-goal percentage ranked 11th in the nation. In addition to making the 10-player Kodak team, Miller was a first-team All-American selection by the U.S. Basketball Writers Assn.

She set single-season school records in eight categories and leaves Fullerton holding school career records in scoring (2,415 points), rebounding (1,162), blocked shots (428) and field goals (914).

Miller will be the first American on the Japan Airlines team, but Levy said the team is in the process of selecting another U.S. player for the upcoming season.