Rutgers women’s basketball freshman star Kiyomi McMiller’s benching situation, explained

Rutgers women’s basketball star freshman guard Kiyomi McMiller entered the New Jersey program ranked as the No. 27 prospect in the nation. Since debuting for the Scarlet Knights, Miller has played more like a No. 1 overall recruit, leading Rutgers with 19.9 points per game, already scoring at least 30 points in three games and recorded two double-doubles.

On Sunday, the 8-6 Scarlet Knights faced their toughest test of the season when they welcomed the No. 4 USC Trojans and guard JuJu Watkins, but McMiller wasn’t part of the festivities, and she let her fans know why she would be absent before the game even tipped.

McMiller took to Instagram to apologize to her fans that hoped to see the freshman play against the 2023 No. 1 overall freshman Watkins.

McMiller emphasized that she didn’t have any say in the decision, focusing on head coach Coquese Washington as the reason why McMiller would not be available.

Washington’s Rutgers team struggled mightily against the Trojans, losing 92-42. Scarlet Knights’ forward Destiny Adams had a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, with JoJo Lacey adding 14 points, but the game missed the impact of McMiller who, in a short time, already established herself as a deep threat, taking shots from the center court logo and driving to the basket.

Following the loss, Washington addressed the key absence.

“The thing with Kiyomi is, you know, we’re going to keep it internal,” said Washington following the loss.

Nj.com reported that people with knowledge of the program cited an altercation between McMiller and a teammate following a recent Rutgers game as the reason for the suspension.

After announcing that the reason would stay within the program, the Rutgers head coach took a long pause before sharing her philosophy as a head coach.

“For me coaching is not just about what happens on the court on game day,” said Washington, “It’s about how we impact these young women that are in our program in all aspects, from their character to their growth into womanhood into their decision making, and so you know I see my role as a coach as um being more than Xs and Os and wins and losses but how am how am I impacting the young women in my care, and so that’s always going to be first and foremost and the decision making that we do that goes into this program.”

Monday morning, McMiller returned to Instagram to share more of her thoughts, usually through sharing posts from those tagging the 18-year-old.

The screenshots of articles referenced the lopsided nature of the defeat and the Associated Press saying “without McMiller, the Scarlet Knights struggled on offense,” with the original Instagram account emphasizing not only that comment but underlining that the loss was the worst in Rutgers school history.

In a now deleted post, McMiller also shared an image urging the freshman to enter the transfer portal immediately.

Washington is in her third season leading the Scarlet Knights, but is not new to head coaching, leading the Penn State Nittany Lions from 2007 to 2019. In 12 seasons, Washington led the Nittany Lions to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances and three consecutive Big Ten regular season championships.

In 79 games coaching the Scarlet Knights, Washington is 28-51, failing to make the NCAA Tournament in each of the last three seasons. In that time, another top-100 recruit, Kaylene Smikle, left the Rutgers program midway through the 2023-24 season. In the offseason, Smikle moved within the conference to the Maryland Terrapins.

On Monday, McMiller’s father Mike told On3 sports that despite sharing feelings about transferring, there’s no plan for the freshman to leave.

“Kiyomi’s goal was to be at Rutgers and not ever transfer,” said McMiller. “That is still the goal. The goal is to finish the job. At this moment, we’re not looking to transfer.”

At this point, it’s too early to tell when McMiller will return, but the first chance is Wednesday night when the Scarlet Knights head to Minnesota to face the 15-1 Golden Gophers.