LAS CRUCES, N.M. - In an announcement made Monday, NM State men's basketball's associate head coach James Miller has been selected to participate in the prestigious 2021 TopConnect Basketball Virtual Symposium on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Symposium is presented by Teamworks and INFLCR and this is Miller's second-straight season as a participant in the Symposium.

Now in its fourth year of existence, TopConnect develops educational programming that allows these top assistant coaches to hear from a wide variety of successful leaders and speakers. The three-word mantra of "Connect. Prepare. Lead." identifies the purpose of TopConnect.

Since arriving in Las Cruces, Miller has aided the Aggies in remaining atop the WAC while also maintaining their reputation as one of the nation's premier mid-major squads. In his three seasons on staff, Miller has helped NM State post a 67-19 (.779) record which includes a 38-7 (.844) mark in regular-season WAC showdowns.

With Miller on their side, the Aggies have laid claim to WAC regular-season titles in 2019 and 2020 as well as the league's tournament crown in March of 2019. That tournament title pushed NM State to its 22nd NCAA Tournament appearance in the history of the program. 

Over the past three seasons, NM State players have secured a total of 13 All-WAC honors of some kind while three student-athletes have gone on to earn NABC All-District laurels. Those players have helped NM State claim two of the last three WAC regular season titles as well as the league's automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA Tournament. That year - Miller's first season with the Aggies - saw the team experience tremendous growth with a program record 30-5 record and 19-game winning-streak.

After the COVID-19 pandemic put a premature end to the Aggies' 2019-20 season, the Aggies entered the 2020-21 campaign with the hopes of keeping their 19-game winning streak from the previous year alive. NM State did so, winning each of its first two contests of the year to match the program record for consecutive victories (21 games).

TopConnect continues to pave the way in development of the next generation of leaders in college athletics. Since its inception in 2018, seventeen attendees have been hired as Athletic Director, Head Men's Basketball Coach or Head Women's Basketball Coach.

TopConnect is on all social media platforms @TopConnectLead. If you have questions regarding TopConnect, please contact Dr. Richard Sander at sander@etsu.edu. TopConnect works in conjunction with Connected Media, LLC, East Tennessee State University's Doctoral program in Global Sport Leadership, #INFLCR and Teamworks.

With the 2021-22 academic year set to begin Wednesday, NM State's men's basketball team is in the process of returning to campus. Once in Las Cruces, the Aggies will continue to prepare for the upcoming campaign. For complete coverage of Aggie hoops, visit NMStateSports.com - the official home of Aggie athletics - and follow the Aggies on Facebook (NM State Men's Basketball), Twitter (@NMStateMBB) and Instagram (@NMStateMBB).

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