Violent End for Miller : Death: Former USC basketball star, 33, killed because of an incident that happened when he was a child in Arkansas, his family claims.

The macabre incident that left Purvis Miller’s bullet-strewn body lying on the side of Highway 395 just south of Little Rock, Ark., 11 days ago, was not considered that unusual by local authorities.

Lt. Calvin Hollowell of the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department had to retrieve a crumpled news release on the death from the trash to read it Thursday.

“We’ve had a lot of deaths since then,” he said.

Miller, 33, a former USC basketball star, died in Sweet Home, Ark., of a shotgun blast to the chest about a mile from Little Rock’s most violent neighborhood, known as Granite Mountain.

But unlike the daily firefights with rival gang members or drug dealers, Miller died, family members said, because of a 28-year-old grudge that he probably did not know existed.

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Two months ago, Miller left Los Angeles for Sweet Home, where he hoped to start afresh. Miller was a strapping 6-foot-8, 230-pound man who still had designs on playing and coaching basketball.

Ethel Miller of Burbank, his mother, said Miller relished his days as one of Southern California’s finest high school and college players. Miller was named Southern Section 4-A player of the year in 1977 after leading Compton High to the section semifinals.

He bucked tradition and attended USC instead of UCLA. He left the school in 1981 as the Trojans’ all-time No. 4 scorer and No. 6 rebounder. But his athletic performances were often clouded by incidents that eventually led to his dismissal by then-Coach Stan Morrison.

Miller briefly played in the Continental Basketball Assn. in Alaska, was then drafted by the Indiana Pacers in 1985, but he never played in the NBA. When Miller was cut by the Pacers, he played in Portugal.

By 1988, his career on the wane, Miller returned to Burbank. With no opportunity to play professionally, he decided to return to USC. He had left 17 units short of a degree, but within a year he had a degree in recreation.

He worked as a substitute teacher in Compton, but nothing seemed to last. More than anything, Miller wanted to coach basketball. He felt as if he let down his family by not making the NBA.

“He didn’t have purpose,” said Ethel Miller, 53.

A decade after leaving USC, Miller was still blaming Morrison for his failure in the pros, although a lack of speed probably had more to do with it than the dismissal from the Trojans.

“The last thing he told me was, ‘I can’t deal with it,’ ” Ethel said.

So, Miller went to Arkansas, where he lived until he was 9. He had roots there. Many of his some 30 half-brothers and sisters lived outside of Little Rock near their grandparents.

He worked as a painter in Little Rock, but his heart was at the Higgins Recreation Center in Sweet Home, where he played basketball every day. He told relatives he was going to try out for a professional team in Memphis, apparently unaware that the World League Basketball franchise there no longer existed.

“He had a special way with children,” said one sister, Barbara Caffey of Little Rock. “He wanted to coach kids, to start a recreation team.”

Miller never got the chance.

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On Sept. 8, Miller met Shirley Green, a woman he knew as a child. What he did not remember, but she reminded him, was the fact that when Miller was 5, he and his friends threw rocks at her older brother. The boy lost sight in one eye as a result.

Ethel Miller said her son apologized for what had occurred 28 years earlier. He told Green he felt horrible, but he could not change something done years before. Green was not satisfied with his remorse and challenged him.

Later that day, Miller visited with Caffey and an uncle, and talked about the confrontation. They said he felt bad and decided to apologize again. Although warned against going to Green’s house on Highway 365 South, Miller went.

“He could be headstrong,” said Bob Boyd, Miller’s coach at USC for his first two seasons.

Lt. Hollowell said Miller was at the house about 11:30 p.m. when he was confronted by Green’s son, Alvin, who was holding a shotgun. Hollowell said Green, 19, chased Miller from the home firing as Miller fled.

Miller did not get far before a fourth shot lodged in his chest, fatally injuring him, Hollowell said. Family members said two young men were involved in the shooting, although the other was not charged.

Green was charged with first-degree murder and is being held in Pulaski County Jail with a bail of $25,000. Officials said Green admitted to shooting Miller. When asked why, he replied, “I don’t know.”

“It’s not only L.A. anymore, it’s everywhere,” Caffey said.

Said Ethel: “Purvis’ dad (Wallace) is taking it harder than all of us. This cold-blooded killing, he just can’t accept it.”

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Although Miller left USC in controversy, he never stopped loving the school, Ethel said.

His tenure at USC was tumultuous, however. David Spencer, one of the Trojan assistants 10 years ago, said Morrison had good feelings for Miller although the two clashed during the 1980-81 season, Morrison’s second and Miller’s last.

It got so acrimonious that Morrison reportedly had plainclothes and uniformed police attend practice a few days after Miller’s dismissal.

Morrison, now the San Jose State basketball coach, was on a recruiting trip and could not be reached. But he apparently thought he had reason for concern.

In 1980, Miller flashed a gun at several Trojan football players when they tried to intervene in an argument Miller was having with his girlfriend’s girlfriend. When the Trojans traveled to Pauley Pavilion to play UCLA the next season, Miller was greeted by Bruin fans who waved toy pistols at him, yelling, “Shoot it, shoot it.”

USC officials also suspended Miller for two games after his girlfriend made allegations, eventually dropped, of misdemeanor battery.

Compounding his problems, Miller was facing a paternity suit in San Diego at the time. His daughter, Lanaya, is 12 and living in Poway. Although Ethel Miller said her son did not support Lanaya financially, he visited her often and was proud of her.

Further irritating Morrison, Miller missed curfews, refused to abide by a strict dress code and once after a game against Kansas was found running through a pasture knocking down cows.

But it was a strawberry daiquiri that got him dismissed.

After a game against Oregon, Morrison confronted Miller over the alcoholic drink at Miller’s table in a hotel bar. The drink, Spencer says today, was ordered by another player.

“He was a tough son of a gun,” said Spencer, a Cal State Long Beach assistant. “Stan thought it was him. And he wouldn’t deny it. All he had to do was deny it, but that is Purvis in a nutshell.”

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When Miller returned to USC after a seven-year absence to continue his studies, it was as telling as anything he did in his life.

Miller was not a quitter. He would get his degree. He would find a way to remain involved with basketball. And perhaps that is why he walked to Shirley Green’s house last week, seeking to ease years of hatred over a long-forgotten incident.