Hauser graduate Gabe Miller has been named head men’s basketball coach at Bethel University in Minnesota.
Submitted photo
During his three years as athletics director at Foundation For Youth, Gabe Miller developed the coaching bug.
So the Hauser and Anderson University graduate took an assistant coaching job at NAIA Judson University in 2014. Eleven years later, he’s landed his first head coaching gig.
Miller was announced Monday as the new coach at Division III Bethel University in the Minneapolis suburb of Arden Hills, Minnesota.
“It’s an exciting time for me,” Miller said. “It’s been a whirlwind of a week. It’s been a dream. It’s kind of a journey that we’ve been on.”
Miller was part of Hauser’s Class A state runner-up baseball team as a junior in 2005. He then led the Jets to the Class A state basketball title as a senior in 2006.
“It’s kind of a full circle moment because it’s the 20-year marker of the 05-06 team that won the state championship,” Miller said. “I thought that was a cool time frame with everything.”
Miller credited former Hauser boys basketball coach Bob Nobbe and former Jets baseball coach Jerry Schoen, along with former Anderson basketball coach Tom Slyder with developing his interest in coaching.
“Just growing up around athletics, growing up around basketball, it was something that we valued,” Miller said. “So many coaches that I’ve had the opportunity to be around have given me the vision to be a coach. The influence from coaches that we played for — coach Nobbe, coach Schoen, my college coaches, just building relationships, the impact you can make as a coach, there was a lot of joy in thinking about being a college coach.”
Gabe Miller
After graduating from Anderson, where he was a two-time All-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference player, Miller spent three years at FFY. He was at Judson for three years before becoming associate head coach and recruiting coordinator for six years at D-III Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa.
The past three years, Miller has been associate head coach at Division II Wisconsin-Parkside.
“Gabe Miller is a proven leader who aligns perfectly with Bethel’s Christ-centered mission and values,” Bethel athletics director Greg Peterson said in a news release. “He has a clear vision for building a culture of excellence — where student-athletes are developed spiritually, academically and athletically. We’re confident he will lead our men’s basketball program with passion, integrity and purpose.”
Those Christian values are what led Miller to Bethel.
“The Vision 3 world, knowing that it’s a high level conference and the alignment that the school believes in was big for me,” Miller said. “Faith is a big thing for us. I just knew there was a strong alignment with who we are as a family. So when that opportunity came open, we went after it pretty hard.”
Miller is married to the former Erica Satterfield, a 2004 Columbus East graduate. They have two boys, Crew, 7, and Fletcher, 4.
The Millers are excited to begin their time at Bethel.
“I don’t think I could have written a script the way it’s been playing out,” Miller said. “I think the college age and how we view coaching, I view it as my ministry. There’s just a lot of value we can provide. The college landscape is one that God keeps opening up those doors with.”
