Rutgers star freshman Kiyomi McMiller's strange benching, explained

meghan l. hall

Mon, 13 Jan 2025, 10:15 am·2-min read

Oct 2, 2024; Rosemont, IL, USA; Rutgers guard Kiyomi McMiller Kiyomi McMiller takes a question at the podium during the 2024 Big Ten Women’s Basketball media day at Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Melissa Tamez-Imagn Images

The women's basketball freshman class, including Rutgers guard Kiyomi McMiller, has been pretty stellar.

McMiller's a walking highlight reel with some of the sickest moves in recent memory. She's had several clips that have gone viral this season, including this mind-boggling video in which she pushed the ball between a defender's legs before 360-spinning around them and driving to the basket for a jumper.

The DMV native has quickly made a name for herself, and as her stardom has ascended, so have the number of eyes on her game. More people want in on the McMiller experience, including when the Scarlet Knights play ranked matchups. As expected, fans were excited to see the young guard in action when Rutgers played USC on January 5. But hours before tipoff, McMiller revealed she wouldn't be suiting up, creating so many questions.

Let’s dive in with what we know so far as this story continues to unfold:

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Kiyomi McMiller quickly became a top-scoring threat for Rutgers

In her college debut, McMiller started but played just four minutes. However, she went 2-for-2 in limited action, scoring four points and snagging a rebound.

Since then, she's started in 12 of the 14 games she's played, including a career-high 31-point outing against LaFayette on December 21.

Rutgers started quietly limiting Kiyomi McMiller's minutes

Shortly after her stellar day against LaFayette, in which McMiller played 40 minutes, something was potentially brewing.

During the Scarlet Knights' next two matchups against Ohio State and Maryland, she played just 27 and 24 minutes, respectively, including just five minutes in the second half against the Terps after a tough outing.

Maryland being Maryland. Held the Scarlet Knights to 9 pts in the second quarter. Rough half for Kiyomi McMiller - 14 pts, 6 TOs and no assists. Terps defense hell to deal with. pic.twitter.com/y4S8gJadcp
— Raymond Lyons (@hoopsrealist) January 3, 2025

Kiyomi McMiller revealed that Rutgers benched her for a matchup against USC

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Just hours before her game against top-ranked USC, McMiller stunned fans by taking to Instagram to reveal that she wouldn't be playing against the Trojans.

Very few details were provided about why McMiller wouldn't be on the court, but the young hooper explained that her head coach, Coquese Washington, made the decision.