STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Kiyomi McMiller oozes confidence. At just 19, she believes she is the best player in women’s basketball.
But that confidence didn’t come from thin air. It started with a basketball, a gym, and a young girl who refused to be outworked.
“Everyone can be skilled, but it matters what you do with that skill,” McMiller said. “[It is about] how hard you work when you’re working, the effort you put into what you’re doing.”
The Maryland native who attended high school in South Carolina and South Jersey is a self-proclaimed gym rat and spends hours perfecting her craft. That extra training provides the 5-foot-8 guard nicknamed “The Product” with the conviction to make difficult dribble moves look routine, to take shots others wouldn’t dare to attempt, and to step up when the game is on the line.
» READ MORE: Meet Kiyomi McMiller, a top 2024 recruit with lofty goals | from 2023
The former five-star recruit dominated high school basketball. She averaged 27.1 points as a sophomore at Trinity Collegiate School in Darlington, S.C., before transferring to Life Center Academy in Burlington, where she averaged 30.1 points.
McMiller scored 2,015 points in two seasons at Life Center and earned ESPN’s No. 22 ranking in the Class of 2024. She began gaining national attention, including at Jordan Brand, which signed the guard to a name, image, and likeness deal. She became the brand’s first high school athlete signed to an NIL deal.
“When [the deal] first happened, I didn’t believe it,” McMiller said. “My dad is a [Michael] Jordan fanatic, so he knows all the details about him. I’m really blessed that I got the opportunity to be a part of the brand.”
McMiller committed to Rutgers in April 2024 and thrived during her freshman season. She scored 18.7 points per game and shot a team-best 33.3% from deep. She also earned a pair of Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards.
But her time with the Scarlet Knights ended when she entered the transfer portal on March 31, less than a year after her commitment.
McMiller said she needed two things from her next school: a winning culture and a hardworking team. Penn State checked both boxes.
“I definitely [wanted] a new culture. A team that wanted to win, wanted to get to the [NCAA] Tournament, wanted to win a national championship, wanted to work hard,” McMiller said. “That is what I was looking for, and Penn State was a perfect fit.”
Like many star athletes before her, McMiller sat beside her family as cameras awaited her decision in April. When the time came, she revealed a navy blue Penn State shirt.
The unusual part: McMiller committed on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
“It was something that no one else had done,” McMiller said. “I wanted to stand out and be different. I was trying to be original.”
McMiller’s game resembles her commitment. Her shifty dribble moves have drawn comparisons to NBA All-Star Kyrie Irving, a game-changing dribbler who’s among the best in league history.
McMiller said she studies the handles of NBA players like Irving, Allen Iverson, and Jamal Crawford, and even draws inspiration from street ballers like Hot Sauce and The Professor.
Working on her handle “is an everyday thing,” McMiller said. “It plays a big part in how I want to score. If I’m doing certain moves that people don’t understand, it makes it a lot easier for me to get open and score as much as I need to for my team.”
McMiller joins a new-look squad seeking a bounce-back season. It won just one Big Ten game last season and finished with a 10-19 record (1-17 Big Ten). The Nittany Lions haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2013-14, when they reached the Sweet 16.
Penn State coach Carolyn Kieger called her newest star a “generational talent.” Kieger aggressively recruited McMiller out of high school, so she is “ecstatic” about adding the sophomore.
“Kiyomi is a true creator with vision, flair, and instincts that are simply unmatched,” Kieger said. “Her game is electric, her mindset is elite, and what sets her apart is her unwavering desire to be one of the best to ever do it.”
» READ MORE: An inside look at the College Football Playoff selection process at the Texas hotel where it all goes down
Kieger raved about McMiller’s competitiveness, which she said raises the level of those around her. That winning spirit could loom large for a team that returned just four players from last season.
Bottom line: McMiller wants to win. Her list includes no individual goals, just a Big Ten championship and a national championship.
Those are lofty expectations for a Penn State team not listed in any sportsbook’s title odds, but McMiller doesn’t care. She is ultraconfident in her game and feels the same about her teammates.
“I guess you could say I want to shock a lot of people,” McMiller said. “But I don’t think it should be a shock with how many weapons we will have on the court this year.”