Frosh Basketball Standout at Notre Dame Will Miss 3-6 Months Because of Injury

Eddie Miller, a 6-foot-6 freshman forward on the Notre Dame High basketball team, will be sidelined for three to six months because of a broken vertebra.

Miller is considered one of the area’s future stars. The injury was confirmed Friday during a visit to a doctor. Miller will wear a brace for three months, then his back will be X-rayed again.

Miller said he suffered the injury sometime last year when he slipped and fell while dunking a basketball. Last summer, he aggravated the injury playing in a tournament in Orlando, Fla., he said.

Miller, who attended Nobel Junior High in Northridge, was a standout on the seventh- and eighth-grade all-star teams in the American Roundball Corp. youth leagues. He said the diagnosis surprised him because he has no pain.

“I can play right now,” he said.

Rich Goldberg, director of the ARC, compares Miller to Don MacLean and Trevor Wilson at the same age.

MacLean starred at Simi Valley High and UCLA and now plays for the Washington Bullets. Wilson played at Cleveland High and UCLA.

Goldberg also said Miller would play on the ARC high school all-star team after the season if his back is healed.

“He’s very quick and has a good outside shot,” Goldberg said. “I’d guess not too many freshmen in the country would be rated higher than him.”