As a deeply rooted Christian, he will fully embrace the spiritual mission of ORU. He is more than ready for this challenge. For 14 seasons he has played a critical role in our success at Baylor, recruiting relentlessly, developing our players on and off the court, and being a spiritual leader in our program. "Coach Mills is a perfect fit at Oral Roberts University. Scott Drew - Head Coach, Baylor University The couple has two daughters, Audrey and Abbey. He is a 1996 graduate of Texas A&M with a degree in finance, and is married to Wendy Scott-Mills. Mills served as the Big 12 representative for the National Association of Basketball Coaches and was a board member for the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches from 2001-03. Prior to his time in Sugar Land, Texas, Mills won three straight district championships as the head coach at North Belt Christian. Mills was on the Rice staff from 2002-03 and the head coach at Fort Bend Christian Academy from 1999-2002, taking them to the TAPPS 4A Final Four for the first time in school history and was the South Region Coach of the Year and a four-time District Coach of the Year. The Bears have been ranked in the top 25 for 10 straight seasons and were ranked number one in the country for the first time in school history during the 2016-17 season. While on the staff at Baylor with Head Coach Scott Drew, Mills has helped the Bears graduate 36 of 38 seniors and has helped lead Baylor to a pair of NCAA Elite Eights, four Sweet 16's and four straight NCAA Tournament appearances. Highlights from Mills' first season on the sidelines included a 19-point road win against Florida Gulf Coast and an ESPN SportsCenter number one play on a buzzer-beater from Ruder to beat North Dakota State. Additional honors for the Golden Eagles included Owens earning DI-AAA ADA Scholar-Athlete and Academic All-Summit League recognition. Albert Owens was the Sixth Man of the year, Austin Ruder was the Transfer of the Year, Emmanuel Nzekwesi was an honorable mention All-Summit League selection and Sam Kearns was named to the All-Newcomer team. In his first season in south Tulsa, Mills led ORU to a t-5th place finish in The Summit League, while earning four postseason honors from the league. ORU boasted the only duo (Nzekwesi and Obanor) to rank in the top 10 in The Summit League in both overall scoring and overall rebounding. ORU's season was highlighted by a regular season sweep of Omaha, and key non-conference victories over James Madison and Richmond. ![]() The awards marked the second year in a row in which ORU has taken home the Sixth Man of the Year award, and the second time in three years to have the league's Freshman of the Year. In 2018-19, ORU big men Nzekwesi and Kevin Obanor were both named to the All-Summit League Second Team, while Obanor picked up Freshman of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year and All-Newcomer Team honors as well. Emmanuel Nzekwesi landed First Team All-Summit League honors leading ORU in scoring and rebounding in his final collegiate season, while Deondre Burns and Max Abmas earned postseason recognition on the All-Newcomer Team. The Golden Eagles ranked second in the NCAA as only 13.9% of possessions resulted in a turnover according to KenPom and finished ninth in the nation turning the ball over just 10.4 times per contest. A 17-14 overall mark, including a 9-7 record in league play, was highlighted by ORU's ability to protect the basketball. ![]() ![]() ORU was dominant at home posting a 13-1 record in the 2019-20 campaign to earn the second-most home wins in the 21st century on its way to Mills' first winning season with the Golden Eagles. A staple of the Golden Eagles through the first three years has been ORU's ability to rebound, leading The Summit League in rebounding margin within league games in both 2017-18 (+4.9) and 2018-19 (+5.4) before topping the conference in offensive rebounds per game in 2019-20 (11.7). Mills led the Golden Eagles to a fourth-place finish in The Summit League during the 2019-20 season improving on a fifth-place effort in each of his first two seasons in south Tulsa. Paul Mills was named the head coach for ORU basketball on Apafter 14 years on staff at Baylor, becoming the 11th head coach in program history.
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