Charlie Obaugh RV & Outdoor Center Student Athlete of the Week: Breylon Miller

BROADWAY, Va. (WHSV) - Breylon Miller is a standout basketball player and cross-country runner at Broadway High School who ranks at the top of his class academically.

“Being a student-athlete, for me, the first thing I think about is the balance. You obviously have to put a little bit of work into getting your school work done along with balancing your sports but in my eyes, it’s not extremely difficult if you just take advantage of the time that is given to you,” said Miller, a Senior at Broadway High School.

Miller was an all-district basketball player as a junior and has made a big impact for the Gobblers his last few seasons.

“He’s always been a hard worker. He’s always succeeded and been successful because of his work ethic so even as a freshman we knew he had a pretty good chance of being a pretty good athlete for us here,” said Broadway Basketball Head Coach Dwight Walton.

Miller has made big strides in his game during his four years at Broadway.

“I really like to improve as a person, just seeing improvement in myself whether that’s academically or on the court just whatever I put my mind to, being able to improve is something I really find joy in,” said Miller.

Now a senior and a team captain Miller has embraced a new role on the team going from primarily playing as a guard to having to defend opposing post players due to Broadway’s lack of size.

“He’s made a huge sacrifice toward this team to be able to take that role to help us be successful. That’s a big accomplishment for somebody that has to come in their senior year and do that and make adjustments but that’s the type of player and person he is, he’s always gonna be team-oriented first,” said Walton.

Miller also runs cross country and helped his team qualify for regionals during his junior and senior seasons.

“He’s always out there doing his best in the workouts, the hill workouts, the speed workouts, he’s out there doing his best and encouraging other people. All the time he’s encouraging, he hardly ever talks about himself he’s always concerned about other people” said Darrell Zook, Broadway’s Cross Country Coach.

Miller is an excellent student boasting a 4.21 GPA, the highest in his class. He also attends the Massanutten Regional Governor’s School.

“He’s top of the line. Anything he does is top-of-the-line. His academics are impeccable and he’s creating a positive attitude for everybody else in the classroom,” said Zook, who also teaches chemistry and anatomy at Broadway.

Miller said he is weighing his college options and has not decided where he will go after graduation. He said he has particularly enjoyed taking college-level math courses.

“It’s pushed me a lot and I’ve surprised myself in what I’ve been able to do. Looking back to 9th grade I never thought I’d be taking Calculus I and Calculus II my senior year. So just being able to have a successful grade in that is something I’ve enjoyed a lot,” he said.

Coach Walton who has coached 17 seasons at Broadway said the most impressive thing about Miller is his leadership and maturity. He said he has also been very fun to coach.

“He’s like all of our kids he’s so much fun to be around. I think that’s why I’ve stayed around so long to be here because of the type of kids we have. He’s actually a little bit of a jokester, these guys love to have a good time and he has always got a smile on his face,” said Walton.

Both Walton and Zook said that Miller is a role model for teammates and classmates.

“He’s a leader, he’s very positive, you very seldom see him getting down so because he’s a leader and very positive the younger kids look up to him,” said Zook.

Miller said that he tries his best to help out younger teammates because he remembers being in their shoes.

“Something that I thought about when I was a little bit younger is what’s going through these older teammates’ minds and what knowledge do they have for me. So now that I’m in that position I try to remind myself that these younger people can use my information and I hope to help them out a little bit every day,” he said.

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