Miller juggles basketball, studies and family

Chaun Miller seems to have it all going his way in his final season at Lehman College. The senior forward is the leading scorer for a Lightning team that leads the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) standings and goes into this week toting a 10-4 overall record.

After his time at Lehman is over this spring, Miller plans to continue playing basketball, this time as a professional, somewhere in Europe. A chance to make some good money and see the world at the same time.

But as easy as Miller makes it look on the court is how hard his life is off it. When you play for blue-blood Division I programs like Duke, Kentucky, Kansas or other elite schools, there is the first-class travel, accommodations and, with a full scholarship, no need to sweat paying the school bills.

But when you’re a Division III player, like Miller, class work and basketball have to fit around a work schedule to pay your way through school. Toss in the fact that Miller is also the father of a 2-year-old son, Chaun Jr., and life as a D-III college player can get awfully difficult.

“Last year my son and my girlfriend [Brittany Franklin] lived here with me,” said Miller, who is leading the Lightning and is sixth in the CUNYAC in scoring with a 17.8 points-a-game average. “But this year is my senior year so we made an agreement that it would be better if I came back here to finish off my senior year alone. Last year, every day I would bring him to practice with me and there were other times I had to bring him to class with me because of our schedules.

“It was very hard,” he continued. “There were times I wanted to quit, but I said to myself, ‘I want to create a better life for my son one day.’ So I wanted to give it all I had in order to change my situation.”

While Chaun Jr. and Brittany were fixtures at Lehman games last season, the two are now living in Philadelphia, where Brittany is from and has family. Miller said he knows it’s the right move for all involved, but that doesn’t make their absence any easier to deal with.