MILES UPDATE

by Zach Smart


There was never any question about Nate Miles’ ability on the court. A highly sought-after recruit, the 6-foot-6 guard/forward has notably stamped his imprint in the Huskies’ pickup games.

The skeptics began to surface, before Miles even laced up his kicks and threw on a UConn practice jersey, saying he brought baggage.

Before even the First Night festivities and the first official team practice, Miles has proved them right. The freshman was arrested and released on bond after he allegedly violated a restraining order.

Now, it turns out there’s more to the story. More facts, more hearsay, and more controversy that Miles’ name has been littered in.

The cut-throat Connecticut media circus has apparently stormed the cozy confines of Storrs, frantically fact-finding and frustrating Jim Calhoun.

The longtime Husky coach, who bent over backwards to get Miles into the school, gave the media a verbal pummeling the last time they jumped on a story featuring a player's run-in with the law.

According to the New Haven Register, a female student slapped the restraining order on miles’ spindly, ultra-long 190-lb. frame.

“The woman, a Manchester resident, said in an affidavit that she began a relationship with Miles on Sept. 6 and, within about a week, began encountering incidents of alleged abuse,” writes David Borges, the Register’s UConn Hoops beat writer/blogger.

“The affidavit reports multiple instances of Miles' aggressive behavior, including digging his nails into her skin when he became angry and, on at least three occasions, making physical contact with her – one time allegedly slapping her and pushing her out of bed after she had hit him.”

This is certainly not good news for the Huskies. Miles' arrest allows him to join the club, one that features Jerome Dyson and A.J. Price. He's the latest Husky to have a run-in with Connecticut’s boys in blue.

Now, the latest turn in the story is that Miles has been expelled from the University and has left Connecticut to return home to Toledo. There is the possibility of an appeal, but the damage has been done, again, and now the Huskies are not among a college basketball betting favorite to reach the Final Four as they might have been a week ago.


The CT State Penitentiary inmates that have been disguised in UConn basketball gear and armed with jump shots, otherworldly athleticism, handle and uncanny play-making ability, have helped keep the “UConnvict” image intact.

Miles, who had a tough time getting accepted into UConn, was kicked off the basketball team at the Patterson School (Lenoir, N.C.) for his academic issues. This prevented him from finishing his senior year on the hardwood. Miles was denied by the NCAA Clearinghouse in January, but he cleared the academic hurdle shortly afterward. He became officially enrolled as a UConn student during Summer Session II at UConn.

A 20-year-old freshman, Miles is the epitome of a well-traveled player. He played at six high schools in five years. Now he may have punched a plane, train, or bus ticket out of UConn.

Miles was a front-runner for the starting small forward spot after the self-exiled Husky, 6-9 Stanley Robinson left the team. Robinson is slated to re-join the Huskies during the second semester. The way things are looking right now, Robinson can't get here soon enough.