Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Women's Basketball's Miller a Finalist For Prestigious Rhodes Scholarship
November 21, 2015 | Women's Basketball
PRINCETON, N.J. – Michelle Miller of the 24th-ranked Princeton University women's basketball team has been named a finalist for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.
One of the oldest and most celebrated international fellowship awards in the world, the Rhodes Scholarship is presented to 32 students across the nation each year, representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Applicants from more than 300 American colleges and universities have been selected as Rhodes Scholars since 1904. Established to honor Cecil J. Rhodes, the Rhodes Trust provides financial support for Rhodes Scholars to pursue a degree or degrees at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.
“If I were to win the scholarship, I would be interested in doing clinical research,” said Miller, a pre-med, chemistry major who is also pursuing a neuroscience certificate. “I'd like to get involved with the clinical ophthalmology research lab which has ongoing projects on gene therapy and stem cell treatments for retinal diseases. I would then go to medical school after coming back from Oxford.”
Each year, two winners are chosen across 16 districts across the country. District receptions and interviews are held annually on the Friday and Saturday preceding the Thanksgiving holiday. Election announcements are made at the conclusion of the Saturday interviews.
Commencing their studies at Oxford the following October, accepted candidates are generally applicants who display outstanding intellect, character, leadership, and commitment to service. Mr. Rhodes' will contains four criteria by which prospective Rhodes Scholars are to be selected:
- literary and scholastic attainments;
- energy to use one's talents to the full, as exemplified by fondness for and success in sports;
- truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and fellowship;
- moral force of character and instincts to lead, and to take an interest in one's fellow beings.
A third-team College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) third-team Academic All-America selection a year ago, Miller was just one of 15 women's Division I basketball players honored nationwide. Also awarded Princeton's Shapiro Prize of Academic Excellence, the Pasadena, Calif. native serves as a mentor for the Princeton Pre-Med Society, as well as JockDocs, a pre-med organization for student-athletes.
On the court, Miller garnered honorable mention All-Ivy accolades in 2014-15 as the team's second leading scorer. Averaging a team-high 14.7 points per game this season, Miller stands poised to become the 23rd member of the program's 1,000-point club. Entering the Tigers' next game against Rider or Tuesday, Nov. 24, Miller has 960 career points.