WATERVILLE  — Sometime next winter, Carrington Miller will walk into the gymnasium at Valley High School, and he’ll try not to feel nostalgic. He will not be in Bingham as a revered alum, but as the opposing basketball coach, and it will be Miller’s job to put the Temple Academy boys basketball team in position to win.

“I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be bittersweet,” Miller said about taking on Valley and other East/West Conference contenders. “There’s a lot of good teams in the league. Forest Hills is the powerhouse now.”

A sixth grade teacher at Temple, Miller was named the varsity boys basketball coach last week. Miller replaces Scott Corey, who coached Temple the last two seasons, compiling a 24-17 record. Prior to working at Temple, Miller was an assistant coach at Valley under his brother, Curtis Miller, who coached the Cavaliers for three years.

“I just need to build on what Coach Corey has done here. He put the program in the right direction,” Miller said. “I realized how much I missed the game. When this opportunity presented itself, I went for it.”

Miller takes over a Temple program that has enjoyed success in recent seasons. The Bereans reached the Class D South semifinals in February. In the 2018-19 season, Temple advanced to the regional championship game. Both playoff runs ended at the hands of eventual Class D state champion Forest Hills.

“Carrington is a great addition and is a very humble person,” Temple athletic director Phil Hubbard said. “Carrington is consistent and dependable. The student-athletes already have respect for him as a staff member.”

As a player, Miller excelled at Valley and at the college level at Central Maine Community College. At Valley, Miller was the 2013 East/West Conference Male Athlete of the Year, and represented the Cavaliers in the McDonald’s All-Star Game after his 1,000-point career. At CMCC, Miller again reached the 1,000-point plateau, and earned first team USCAA All-America honors in 2016 with the Mustangs.

Miller listed former Valley standouts Luke and Jason Hartwell as two of his basketball influences, along with Wade Morrill, his coach at Valley, and Dave Gonyea, his coach at CMCC.

“They really showed me as a coach, it’s not just about the game. It’s about making connections with the players and helping them become better people,” Miller said.

Both Morrill and Gonyea expect good things from Miller in his head coaching debut.

“When I heard Carrington was named basketball coach at Temple Academy, I had one initial thought; they made a great hire,” Gonyea said. “Not only is Carrington an outstanding person, but a solid family man who comes from a great family. His basketball knowledge is very good; his ability to relate and understand high school kids is outstanding.”

Added Morrill, now the head boys basketball coach and athletic director at Monmouth Academy: “He was the most talented player I have coached in my career, with a great ability to raise the level of the team around him just by his presence. For me it wasn’t a matter of if but when he entered coaching. He will do a tremendous job molding and shaping Temple Academy.”

Miller said the style of play the Bereans use will depend on the roster.

“I personally like to play an up-tempo style, but we’re going to have some size. We may have to slow it down to exploit that,” Miller said.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM

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