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Patty Mills

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Patrick Mills
CollegeSaint Mary's
ConferenceWCC
SportBasketball
PositionPoint guard
Jersey #13
ClassFreshman
NicknamePatty
Career2007–present
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight175 lb (79 kg)
NationalityAustralia
Born (1988-08-11) August 11, 1988 (age 36)
Canberra
High schoolAustralian Institute of Sport,
Canberra
Career highlights
Awards
Deadlys Award for Most Promising New Talent in Sport (2006)
NAIDOC National Sportsperson of the Year (2006)
Australia Basketball Player of the Year (2006)
WCC Newcomer of the Year (2008)
All-WCC First Team (2008)
Records
Youngest player ever for the Boomers

Patrick "Patty" Mills (born 11 August 1988 in Canberra) is an Australian basketball point guard who recently completed his freshman (first) season at Saint Mary's College in Moraga, California, USA. He is especially noted for being one of the first Indigenous Australians to make a major name for himself in basketball[1][2] and as the youngest player ever to suit up for the men's senior national team, the Boomers.

Childhood

Mills, the son of a Torres Strait Islander father and Aboriginal mother from the Ynunga people of South Australia, was first exposed to basketball as a four-year-old with The Shadows, an Indigenous Australian team that his parents established.[3] He attended Marist College Canberra , in his early years of highschool where his sporting prowess shone. He represented the college in rugby, AFL, athletics, cross country and of course basketball; all at the highest level. His interest in basketball continued throughout his childhood; he served as ball boy for the Canberra Cannons of the NBL around 2000. During that time, his family would develop a close relationship with Cannons player David Patrick, who would eventually play a key role in Mills' career.[4]

Development

Mills was selected at age 15 for the ACT U18 squad to compete in the Australian National Championships. The following year, Mills accepted a full time scholarship with the Australian Institute of Sport, the same school that produced two time WNBA MVP Lauren Jackson and current Milwaukee Bucks player Andrew Bogut, where he continued to develop as a player. He also made a strong impression at the 2005 Australian Olympic Youth Festival, an event considered to be a showcase for future elite sporting talents.[3]

In January 2006, he received the RE Staunton Medal as top player in the Australia under-20 national championships.[5] In April that year, he received more international attention when he was named to the World team of under-20 players that played a US team of the same age group at the Nike Hoop Summit in Memphis, Tennessee. Mills led the World squad with 6 assists and also added 8 points in a losing effort.[6] He was one of 22 players invited to try out for the Australia squad for the 2006 FIBA World Championship, becoming the youngest player ever to participate in a Boomers training camp. While he was in training with the Boomers in July, he was named by Basketball Australia as the Junior Male Player of the Year.[5] Mills also had an outstanding 2006 season with the AIS men's team in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL), earning him a place on the All SEABL East men's team and the honour of 2006 SEABL U/21 Australian Youth Player of the Year. He went on to be named the 2006 Basketball Australia Player of the Year, and also received two major awards from Indigenous Australian organisations—The Deadlys Award for Most Promising New Talent in Sport and NAIDOC's National Sportsperson of the Year.[7]

Debut with the Boomers

After repeating as Staunton Medallist in 2007,[8] Mills completed his scholarship with the AIS and opted to play for Saint Mary's. Before arriving in the Bay Area in August 2007, he played for Australia at the FIBA U19 World Championship in Serbia, in which Australia finished fifth. He was then called up to the Boomers in July 2007, making his debut against Austria on 31 July in an international friendly tournament in Bormio, Italy. Mills scored 11 points off the bench and was credited with changing the complexion of the match, which Australia won 84-63.[9] This not only made him the youngest Boomer ever, but also made him only the third Indigenous Australian, after Michael Ah Mat in the 1960s and Danny Morseu in the 1980s, to play for the Boomers.[1] Mills went on to make the Boomers squad for the FIBA Oceania Championship, which doubled as a qualifier for the 2008 Olympics. His main highlight in the competition, which was a three-match series against Australia's trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand, came in the second and ultimately deciding match. Mills came off the bench to score 17 points, helping lead the Boomers to a 93-67 rout of the Tall Blacks that punched their ticket to Beijing.[10]

Coming to America

Mills signed with Saint Mary's during the NCAA national early signing period in November 2006. Although he was pursued by several other NCAA Division I schools such as Utah (where Bogut played before coming to the NBA), Wake Forest, Alabama, and Nebraska (where he would join fellow Australian Aleks Maric), he came to Saint Mary's, indicating that he was comfortable with the Gaels' head coach Randy Bennett.[10] Also, just prior to the 2006-07 season, Bennett had hired Mills' old family friend David Patrick as an assistant coach.[4][11] Mills became the fifth Australian that Bennett successfully recruited since arriving at Moraga in 2001. One of the other Australians to have played under Bennett at Saint Mary's was fellow AIS old boy Daniel Kickert, the Gaels' all-time leading scorer.[7] Mills also followed in Kickert's footsteps in another way, becoming the first freshman to start for the Gaels since Kickert did so in the 2002-03 season.[12] He first broke into the American basketball consciousness in his fourth game of the 2007-08 season, when he scored 37 points to lead the Gaels to an upset of nationally-ranked Oregon on 20 November 2007. The win also validated preseason expectations for the Gaels, who were picked before the season to finish second in the West Coast Conference behind traditional conference superpower Gonzaga.[13] The Gaels went on to start the season 7-0 and earn their first national ranking since 1989.[14] The Gaels also won the 2007 edition of the Rainbow Classic, an annual eight-team December tournament hosted by the University of Hawaiʻi, with Mills being named tournament MVP.[15]

The Gaels went on to be nationally ranked for most of the season, ultimately finishing second in WCC regular-season play to Gonzaga. After the regular season, Mills was named WCC Newcomer of the Year and also made the All-WCC first team. At the end of the regular season, Mills was the second-leading freshman scorer in the WCC at 14.4 points per game, and also led all WCC freshmen in assists (3.47 per game) and steals (1.80 per game).[16] The Gaels went on to the NCAA tournament, where they lost in the first round to Miami (FL). In that game, Mills' 24 points made him the only Gael to score in double figures, and he also led the Gaels with 5 assists.[17]

During Mills' freshman season, his countryman and teammate Carlin Hughes called him "probably the biggest deal going on in youth sport [in Australia] at the moment". Despite the enormous time difference between Australia and the U.S. West Coast—during most of the US college basketball season, Mills' hometown of Canberra is 19 hours ahead of the Saint Mary's campus—Australian television has telecast Gaels games live. Also, nightly newscasts in Australia frequently feature Mills' highlights, even though basketball occupies only a small place in the Australian sport scene.[14]

Quotes about Mills

  • Eric Musselman, former head coach of the NBA's Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors, "He's as good as any point guard I've seen across the country," said Musselman, who has attended every Saint Mary's home game, including the win over Oregon in which Mills got 37 points. "He is their early offense and their transition offense, and he dictates the tempo of every game. He had 37 points (against Oregon), and I walked into Randy Bennett's office afterward and said, 'He was unselfish.' He's the only player I've ever seen play unselfishly and score 37 points."
  • Australia national coach Brian Goorjian, after Mills' successful debut against Austria — "This kid's special. I didn’t know if it was going to be down the track or now, but after tonight I’m thinking now. He was our best player tonight and that has made people happy, but it has made people nervous too [referring to the three players competing with Mills for the two point guard slots on the FIBA Oceania squad]."[9]
  • Danny Morseu, the last Indigenous Australian to play for the Boomers before Mills — "There’s not too many generals around in Australian basketball, he could be the next general. I think he’s the right fit and given the opportunity to be a part of the team I think he’ll be a major factor."[18]
  • Kyle Whelliston, reporter for Basketball Times in the USA and regular ESPN.com contributor — "A product of the same efficient Australian Institute of Sport that produced Andrew Bogut, the Canberra Cannon is off to an explosive start with his advanced court sense and smart shot."[2]

Career highlights

  • 2008 – WCC Newcomer of the Year, All-WCC First Team
  • 2007 - MVP Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic, Saint Mary's College Tournament Champions
  • 2007 - West Coast Conference Player of the Month: December 2007
  • 2007 - West Coast Conference Player of the Week: November 26, 2007 and December 26, 2007
  • 2007 - In just his fourth NCAA game for Saint Mary's, Patrick dominated with 37 points against Oregon - the sixth best return in the school's history, and best by a first year player.
  • 2007 – Australia Post Boomers squad member; Under 19 Men squad member;
  • 2006 - Boomers squad member (youngest at 17 years of age); AIS scholarship; Australian Junior Camp; U20 World team at Nike Hoops Summit (USA); U20 National Championships representing ACT and RE Staunton Medallist
  • 2005 - AIS scholarship; Australian Junior Camp; Youth Olympic Festival Australian Men’s team (gold); U18 National Championships representing ACT
  • 2004 - U18 National Championships representing ACT

References

  1. ^ a b Reed, Ron, Herald Sun (2007-08-04). "New kid on Boomers' block". Basketball Australia. Retrieved 2007-12-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ a b Whelliston, Kyle (2007-11-30). "Memphis, St. Mary's and Gonzaga have freshman gems". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2007-11-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ a b Malone, Frances (2006-12-07). "Patrick Mills is standing tall". Basketball Australia. Retrieved 2007-12-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ a b Pashelka, Curtis (2007-11-24). "Aussies could outnumber Americans at SMC game". Contra Costa Times. Retrieved 2007-11-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help) (free registration required)
  5. ^ a b "Mills caps off big week with BA junior award". Basketball Australia. 2007-07-12. Retrieved 2007-12-05. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "US too powerful for World in Hoop Summit". Basketball Australia. 2006-04-09. Retrieved 2007-12-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ a b "Men's Basketball Inks Patrick Mills During Early Signing Period" (Press release). Saint Mary's College Athletics. 2006-11-08. Retrieved 2007-11-30. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "Australia's best young basketballers unveiled at Australian Institute of Sport" (Press release). Australian Institute of Sport. 2007-03-29. Retrieved 2007-12-05. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ a b "Mills comes of age in Boomers debut". Basketball Australia. 2007-07-31. Retrieved 2007-12-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) (scroll down page to reach article)
  10. ^ a b Starks, Jennifer (2007-11-01). "Patrick Mills". Contra Costa Times. Retrieved 2007-11-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help) (free registration required)
  11. ^ "Coaches: David Patrick". Saint Mary's College Athletics. Retrieved 2007-11-30.
  12. ^ Baxter, Bill (2007-11-27). "Boomers: Mills best in the West". Basketball Australia. Retrieved 2007-11-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ "Freshman Mills scores 37 points as Saint Mary's upsets Oregon". ESPN.com. 2007-11-20. Retrieved 2007-11-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ a b Glockner, Andy (2007-12-12). "Aboriginal hoops star putting face on St. Mary's". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2007-12-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ "Men's Basketball Win Rainbow Classic Title With 70-63 Win Over Ohio" (Press release). Saint Mary's College Athletics. 2007-12-23. Retrieved 2007-12-28. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ "WCC Announces 2008 Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams" (Press release). West Coast Conference. 2008-03-04. Retrieved 2008-03-07. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ Associated Press (2008-03-21). "McClinton leads Hurricanes' rally with career-high 38 points". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2008-03-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ Perry, Mia, NBL Media (2007-08-14). "Morseu says Mills is next General". Basketball Australia. Retrieved 2007-12-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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