Interest in women’s basketball has spiked in recent years, mostly thanks to the rise of stars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. The average number of viewers from the 2024 season showed a 226% jump from the previous season. The largest increase within that viewership, according to
Vox, is among teenage girls.
Locally, John “Coach J” Miller of Miller Fundamentals is helping turn that interest in basketball into talent for Fort Wayne girls.
Miller began his career as a trainer when his daughter was in high school, supporting her and her teammates with extra workouts. He developed a passion for helping student athletes develop a love for the game. Now, years later, his training practice,
Miller Fundamentals, works with girls as young as eight who are looking to reach their full basketball potential.
“I rarely get clients that come in already good," Miller says. "Most clients start off at the bottom – they can’t dribble, they can’t do nothing, and everybody else has been at that point.”
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Harvest Green, 14, plays for the Nike Lady Gym Rats and is coached by Miller.His philosophy towards coaching is focused on “progression, not perfection.” He explains that as the girls work to build the fundamental skills of the sport, they start to view themselves as serious athletes, and that mentality is what carries them to success.
“Constantly watching their confidence pick up is phenomenal,” Miller says. “It teaches them that if you put your head down, make a plan, put the work in, you can accomplish all your goals.”
This strategy has played out within his current group of 12 clients. He has two girls who are competing in the
Nike Elite Youth Basketball League, one of the top amateur basketball leagues in the country.
Harvest Green, 14, was scouted by the Nike Lady Gym Rats and given the opportunity to try out just over a year into training with Miller Fundamentals. She made the team, and they went on to win the
Run 4 the Roses Championship, the largest US girls’ youth basketball tournament. She will be competing with the same team again this year.
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A’Moni Owens-Briggs, 12, plays for the Nike Lady Gym Rats and is coached by Miller.A’Moni Owens-Briggs, 12, is in her first season with the Lady Gym Rats, a year and a half after practicing with Miller. Both girls are quick to attribute their success, at least in part, to their coach.
“He makes it so much easier because he’s just so passionate,” Harvest says. “The way he trains is different than anyone I’ve ever trained with.”
Harvest’s mother, Bettie Hunter, was hesitant when she was looking for a trainer for her, at the time, tween daughter. She knew Harvest had the potential and drive to find success, but finding a program that was the right fit was daunting. Meeting Miller ended up a matter of being in the right place at the right time.
“We went to the open gyms and Coach J was training one-on-one with a young lady, and when I saw how much he cared when he was working with this young lady, I knew he would work well,” Hunter says. “I got his card and we’ve been here ever since.”
Harvest’s growth after working with Miller was evident in her performance on her school team, and soon enough, other parents were reaching out to Hunter, asking to get in touch with the trainer.
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Players run drills to help build their basketball skills with Coach J.“The support I get from the parents is amazing,” Miller says. “They trust me wholeheartedly. They come in here and they just hand me their kids. They don’t come in with a plan or agenda. They let me analyze them. I tell them what I think, and we set up a plan, and we execute.”
Ruby Capps, Harvest’s teammate, began training with Miller soon after her. Two and a half years later, the girls continue to play together at Bishop Luers, with Harvest starting on varsity and Capps on junior varsity and as a varsity stand-in. As Capps puts it, her trainer’s approach has been a “game changer” both on and off the court.
“He’s not just a coach, he’s a family member, he’s a friend – he’s all these things,” she says. “He doesn't just know you as a basketball player, he knows you as a person.”
Miller explains that he makes a point of building community within his gym. He trains with the girls at least three times a week, working both in a group and one-on-one setting to really learn their abilities and needs. His efforts to be more than just an instructor to these young athletes does not go unnoticed.
“The bond and relationship that he actually builds with each one of these kids, it’s just unbelievable," Matt Capps, Ruby’s father, says. "You wouldn’t think that a trainer can be such a mentor as John, but he really is. He’s such a good person that it’s made it even easier to sit back, watch, and see them flourish.”
Alaya Chapman, a college athlete who has been training with Miller since her freshman year of high school, is back with him this summer as she prepares to compete professionally overseas. She’s been working out alongside Miller’s younger clients, and she says she wishes she had started working with him earlier in her basketball career.
“Really, I’m amazed because these girls out here, they come into this gym and they’re getting better and better,” Chapman says. “The talent at their age right now is really incredible. I tell him all the time, ‘I just wish I would have met him sooner.’”
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Players run drills to help build their basketball skills with Coach J.Most of Miller’s clients dream of one day playing basketball professionally, as many young athletes do, inspired by the current talent showcased in the WNBA. He strives at every training session to get them closer to that dream and reach their full potential as a player.
“Every game that you play is an application,” Miller says. “You just have to be prepared and be ready for every game. It’s my job to make sure they’re prepared when the opportunity comes.”