Star TCU point guard Mike Miles Jr. declares for 2023 NBA draft

TCU’s Mike Miles Jr. declared for the 2023 NBA draft on Wednesday, surrounded by friends and family at a press conference held in the Four Sevens team room at the Dutch Meyer Athletic Complex & Abe Martin Academic Enhancement Center.

Miles was emotional as he thanked his friends, family, coaches and teammates for helping him arrive at this moment.

“It takes a village to raise a child, and I wanna thank my village for always being there for me.”

Last year Miles entered the draft and then returned to TCU for his junior season. When asked what made this season different, Miles said he knew he was ready for the next step.

“In the middle of the season, I was playing really good,” he said. “This was before my injury, so like a couple of games before my injury I felt like I was ready. I felt like I did everything I could, I got better.”

One of the best players of the coach Jamie Dixon era, Miles starred at TCU for three seasons racking up a multitude of honors including a Big-12 All-Freshman team selection, two All-Big-12 Second team selections and a preseason Big 12 player of the year selection.

Dixon lauded his point guard for his leadership throughout his tenure, especially in his junior season.

“He just kept getting better, his work ethic was different ,” Dixon said. “He was different in practice, he went harder in practice consistently.”

Miles led TCU to a 22-13 record this past season and helped the Horned Frogs advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament where they fell to Gonzaga.

As of now, NBA Draft analysts don’t expect Miles to be selected in the 2023 NBA Draft and The Athletics’ top 100 big board has Miles as the 80th-best player in this draft class.

However, Miles and Dixon have spoken to people around the league and feel confident about Miles’ chances and both stated multiple times it was the right time for Miles to come out.

“The way he played at the end of the year this year it was time. He played at a high high level,” said Dixon “I’ve talked to NBA people, we’ve talked they’re at our practices, we’re talking to ‘em the GMs, its time, It’s the right time.”

Miles forged a legacy at TCU and said he would always cherish his time as a Horned Frog.

“Obviously you know TCU wasn’t a big winning basketball school that’s part of the reason why I came here,” he said. “Obviously, we didn’t get to where we wanted to go, I didn’t accomplish everything I wanted to but I feel like the biggest thing for me is leaving it [TCU’s basketball program] better than what it is when I got here.”