Long-time Averett University women's volleyball coach Danny Miller was the ninth person inducted into the Cougar Club Sports Hall of Fame when he is enshrined on April 20, 2010, at the school's annual athletics awards banquet.
Danny Miller serves as Averett University's deputy director of athletics and compliance officer after retiring from coaching following the 2021 season to focus solely on administrative duties.
Miller was the women's volleyball head coach for 27 seasons. Miller led the Cougars to a 661-319 record and four NCAA Tournament appearances. He also won eight conference tournament titles and 14 regular season crowns, including the 2020-21 USA South Conference Tournament East Division championship, the program's fifth title of any kind in a six-year span.
Miller raised the bar in the USA South, while his teams posted victories in nearly 70 percent of their overall contests. At the time of his retirement from coaching, he was seventh in the nation in career victories among active Division III coaches and was in the top-50 among active Division III coaches in career winning percentage at .674. That is a remarkable feat, considering he has done it against some of the top teams in the nation.
In conference play, Miller’s resume was second to none. He had a career record of 335-66 against USA South opponents and won nearly 84 percent of his league games. In 2013 and again in 2015, his team set a program single-season record with 17 conference wins. In 2016, his Cougars went 15-0 against league opponents and followed that with a 16-0 mark in 2017. Averett finished the 2017 season with a 41-match winning streak against conference opponents during the regular season.
Averett set the program record for overall wins by going 32-4 in 2017 while earning the USA South East Division title for the third consecutive season. Miller netted his record ninth USA South Coach of the Year award and was named the Virginia Sports Information Directors State Coach of the Year. He produced two American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Americans, two Academic All-Americans as voted by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), the USA South Player of the Year and VaSID Player of the Year, two AVCA All-Region picks, two VaSID All-State selections and three all-conference selections.
Averett's 2016 team had another phenomenal season, going 26-10 with a perfect record against conference foes in the regular season to earn the East Division crown. Miller earned USA South Coach of the Year honors, and individually he produced an AVCA All-America Second Team selection, the USA South Player of the Year, the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) State Player of the Year and four all-conference selections. The regular season championship was the program's third over the past four seasons.
Averett went 27-9 (17-2 USA South) in 2013 while playing several of the nation’s top teams, winning the USA South North Division and advancing to the conference’s championship match. Despite losing five seniors from that team, Miller’s young 2014 squad finished 22-15 (15-4 USA South) despite starting 4-5 freshmen in the lineup. He had two players earn AVCA All-America Honors, with one of those players earning AVCA Region Freshman of the Year, USA South Rookie of the Year and Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) State Rookie of the Year. In 2015, his team again won the USA South North Division for the second time in three years after finishing 27-11 (17-2 USA South). He produced another USA South Player of the Year, as well as another USA South Rookie of the Year and VaSID Rookie of the Year while adding the program's sixth AVCA All-America selection.
Miller managed to put great teams on the court year in and year out. He won with young squads and with veterans. Miller is Averett’s winningest coach and was been named the USA South Conference Coach of the Year a record nine times, as well as the Virginia State Coach of the Year on six occasions. He coached and recruited Averett’s nine All-American selections in volleyball and developed eight players who combined for 16 conference player of the year awards. He led the Cougars to at least 20 overall wins in 23 of his 27 seasons.
Miller’s teams also succeeded in the classroom. From 2002-03 to 2021, 106 Averett volleyball players have earned USA South Academic All-Conference Team honors. Numerous players have been named to the Academic All-District teams as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), and since 2011, Miller had five players who earned Academic All-America honors.
In June 2017, Miller was inducted into the USA South Conference Hall of Fame.
Before his record-setting head coaching career began in 1995, Miller served as an assistant on the Averett staff from 1990-94 and was the school’s first sports information director until 2000.
Miller served as the Interim Director of Athletics From September 2012 to July 2013. He holds both a bachelor’s (‘91) and master’s (‘95) degree from Averett.
Gallery: (4/20/2010) HOF: Danny Miller
