Tag: bios

All-Time Gators Men’s Basketball Bio: Tony Miller (1970-73)

Tony Miller’s tenure at UF came just after Neal Walk had left in 1969 and the center from Indiana filled those massive shoes admirably.

Tony Miller (1970-73) – Guard

Tony Miller is a mostly unknown name among the greats of Florida men’s basketball. Hailing from a much different era along with the fact that he never played pro ball has rendered him a distant memory in the psyche of the Gator Nation. That said, he was not exactly chopped liver, either.

Miller’s tenure at Florida came just after legendary Neal Walk had left Gainesville in 1969 and the guard from Indiana filled those massive shoes admirably, leading the Gators in scoring all three years he played.

The 6-foot-one Miller also led the SEC with an average of 26.7 points per game during the 1971–72 season, a year that included his program-record 54 points in a single game that came against Chicago State at Florida Gym. Miller also holds the current best mark for points in a road match, scoring 39 against Auburn that same season — mind you, all coming in an era before the shot clock and the three-point line.

Miller achieved many accolades as a Gator, including a first-team All-SEC selection, serving as senior team captain, earning Academic All-American honors and receiving an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship. He is also a member of the Florida Athletic Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Legends of SEC Basketball in 1999.

Despite some promising prospects at the professional level, Miller decided to forgo the NBA Draft in 1973 to attend medical school at the University of Illinois-Chicago, taking a keen interest in orthopedic medicine due to a broken hand he suffered just before he set his scoring record the year prior. He returned to Indiana to practice as a foot surgeon outside of Indianapolis, where he still works full-time to this day.

All-Time Gators Men’s Basketball Bio: Neal Walk (1966-69)

Neal Walk is probably the greatest Gators athlete that most Florida fans have never heard of who set numerous records in his time at UF.

Neal Walk (1966-69) – Center

Neal Walk is probably the greatest Gators athlete that most Florida fans have never heard of.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in Miami Beach, Fla., Walk did not start a high school game until his senior year when his team made it to the state semifinals. He attended the University of Florida on an academic scholarship, where he played center for three seasons under coach Tommy Bartlett.

During his time in Gainesville from 1966-69, Walk set multitudes of team records that still stand, including career rebounds (1,181), points per game (20.8), and rebounds in a single game (31), while also leaving school as the all-time leading scorer — a distinction he no longer holds. His No. 41 jersey remains the only number retired by UF’s basketball program.

Walk was taken at No. 2 in the 1969 NBA Draft by the Phoneix Suns — the highest of any Florida basketball player ever — just behind legendary Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Adul Jabbar) after the Suns lost a coin toss with the Milwaukee Bucks for the top pick.

The best years of Walk’s professional career came early on in Phoenix, where he hit his high-water mark during the 1972–73 season, averaging a career-best 20.2 points and 12.4 rebounds per game. The double-double machine was traded to the New Orleans Jazz in 1974 where his career completely came apart, falling from a front line starter to a benchwarmer with the Jazz and also shortly after with the New York Knicks until 1977.

Walk finished his career professional career in Italy, retiring in 1978. Complications from spinal cord surgery to remove a benign growth in 1987 left him without the use of his legs, rendering him wheelchair-bound for the remainder of his life. The Gator great passed away in 2015 after a long bout with poor health.