“Storm King changed my life,” says Jermaine Miller ’02 with a very wide smile. As an incoming member of the Storm King Alumni Council next year, he is already looking toward the future and at ways he can contribute to the continued success of his alma mater. “I’m excited to be on the Council and to see what we can do. I think I can bring a different take and a different perspective on how to put SKS in the spotlight for the better, and be seen as a school that offers greater numbers of deserving students a life-changing opportunity like it did for me.”
Harlem Hoops
Jermaine (center) and two Bball Shape Training players
Jermaine Miller ’02
Paying it Forward One Basket at a Time BY ELIZABETH WILSON TAVILOGLU P’19
From the streets of Harlem and the beauty of Storm King Mountain to the halls of Drexel, the University of New Haven and beyond, Jermaine Miller ’02 has built his life around his passion for basketball and making a difference in the lives of young people. Whether he’s on a case as an NYPD detective, organizing a workshop for youth players in West Africa, or helping under-represented students survive college, Jermaine–the first SKS graduate to attend college with a full athletic scholarship–is determined to continue paying it forward one basket at a time.
12 / JERMAINE MILLER ’02
Jermaine, known in many circles for his basketball passion, is also a full-time NYPD detective, CEO, philanthropist, coach, and father of four. Born in 1983 in New York City, Jermaine spent most of his childhood in Harlem where he began playing neighborhood basketball at a young age. “Both of my parents are Nigerian. I was born here, so I consider myself Nigerian-American. I grew up in a single mother household together with my two older brothers. I also have 10 other siblings from my father’s side. We are 12 in total, so actually, we are a huge family. As a kid, I definitely had the youngest boy sentiment of being the baby, but I was always the biggest one,” recalls Jermaine. Jermaine says that he began to take basketball more seriously by the age of 12. “I started out at Frederick Douglas Academy, an elite public school in Harlem. I was tall, so my teachers encouraged me to play. I competed first on the team there, and then with the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) – a nonprofit youth sports organization that gets groups of players together to form independent teams and has them compete in tournaments.” "Unfortunately, New York City in the late 1980s was a crime and drug-infested place. A lot of kids I grew up with ended up in jail or dead. I was in real danger of falling victim to my surroundings. At Frederick Douglas, I wasn’t in touch with academics and I wasn’t really trying. I began skipping classes and would come to school in the afternoon just to play basketball. The environment was taking over.”
A New Take At that time, Jermaine says he felt there was nowhere else he could go. Then, during his junior year, he was presented with what he calls the opportunity of a lifetime– a chance to attend Storm King on a full athletic
