Milley not just another tall guy

By Hilary Strickland, On-Line Forty-Niner

Thursday, November 12, 1998

Ian Milley is more than your average basketball jock. True, he is 6-feet-10 inches tall, weighs 250 pounds and can play basketball well. According to Milley, that is as close to the stereotype as he gets.

Milley is a native of Southern California. He attended high school in Pennsylvania at Mercersburg Academy. Surprisingly, Milley's favorite sport is not basketball but baseball. When he was in the 10th grade, he planned on playing baseball, but injured his pitching arm. His injury kept him from playing baseball, but it did not keep him from trying out for and winning a spot on the basketball team.

After high school, Milley returned to California to play center forward at Long Beach State. His freshman season did not start off well. In the season opener, Milley broke his left ring finger and was out for the next six games.

Milley returned and finished the season with a season high, four rebounds against Cal State Fullerton. He also recorded the best free-throw percentage on the ream, with an .833 average.

Milley said he is better prepared for this season than he was last season. This summer, he attended Pete Newell's Big Man's Camp.

At the camp, Milley focused on improving his scoring moves. No. 1 draft pick Michael Olowokandi was also at the camp, he said.

Besides training at the camp, Milley also hit the gym hard this summer.

"I got in and lifted two hours a day, three days a week," Milley said.

Milley also worked full time this summer.

"It was very glamorous," Milley sarcastically said. "I was the cleanup guy at an oil depository in the harbor for Aarco." He said he would come home from work absolutely filthy.

Milley prefers watching college basketball over the NBA.

"With a shorter season, the college players have to play much harder," he said. "The guys in the NBA can afford to pace themselves because they play 80 games a season as opposed to the 30 game college season."

Checking out other college teams also helps Milley scope out the competition.

Outside of basketball, Milley is a typical college student. He enjoys going to the movies and hanging out with friends and family. Milley is an English major and wants to be a writer. When asked if he would like to be a reporter, Milley said he would not. He said he would like to write opinion and commentary type stuff.

He is not one of those jock types who only associate with other athletes.

"Some of the athletes only hang out with other athletes," he said. "They don't really associate with other people, and I'm not like that."