Ira Miller, one of the most successful college tennis coaches in the East, joined NJIT in July 2014, as the head coach of the men’s and women’s tennis teams.
In 2015-16, the NJIT women competed in its first full season in the ASUN Conference, concluding the season on a positive note, advancing to the program’s first postseason tournament appearance and taking the third-seeded Stetson Hatters down to the final match of the night.
The following season, NJIT followed up with a 3-3 mark in ASUN play, reaching seven overall wins. NJIT, the third seed in the 2017 ASUN Tennis Tournament, won the school’s first-ever postseason victory in the ASUN, edging the sixth seeded Kennesaw State, 4-3, advancing to the semifinals of the tournament.
In the Fall of 2017, Miller became Head Men’s Tennis Coach and Coordinator of Tennis for the Men and Women.
The 2017-18 season marked the first appearance for the Highlander men in postseason, since joining the ASUN Conference in 2015-16. NJIT finished with nine wins.
Miller, a cum laude graduate (BA) of Clark University in Worcester, MA, and The American Film Institute (MFA) in Los Angeles, played four years on the varsity at Clark and was a team captain as a senior
He has coached at three different institutions—Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ; Drew University in Madison, NJ; and Yeshiva University in New York City. He won multiple conference championships at FDU and Drew and in his only season at Yeshiva (Spring 2014) he led the program to a conference championship and an NCAA Division III National Tournament berth, becoming the first Yeshiva team in any sport to qualify for NCAA postseason play.
"We are pleased that a coach with Ira's experience and success was interested in our position," said Kaplan in announcing the move. "His track record of graduating high-achieving, smart tennis players was something that put his resume at the top of our list."
Beginning Division I competition in 2006-07, the NJIT men have posted records at .500 or above in nine of 12 seasons, with a top mark of 18-7 in 2009-10.
Miller began his college coaching in 1985 at Fairleigh Dickinson and he guided programs there in three separate stints (1985-88, 1994-98, and 2005-12). He coached Drew from 1998 through 2005 and was men's tennis coach at Yeshiva University in 2014.
At FDU, he won NEC men's titles in 1988, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2007, 2008, and 2012 and women's NEC titles in 1987 and 2012.
He was selected as NEC Coach of the Year in men's tennis seven times and was NEC women's Coach of the Year three times.
In 2012, Miller was voted as ITA (Intercollegiate Tennis Association) Northeast Region Coach of the Year for women's tennis.
He led FDU teams into the NCAA Division I tournament three times with the men (2007, 2008, and 2012) and the steered the Knight women into the 2012 NCAAs. His 1996 FDU team was Eastern College Athletic Conference South champion,
In Miller's seven-year tenure at NCAA Division III Drew, he led teams to seven Freedom Conference championships, winning five in a row with the men (2001 to 2005) and two in a row with the women in 2004 and 2005. He was Freedom Conference Coach of the Year six times, five for the men (2001-05) and once for the women (2003).
He was inducted into the Fairleigh Dickinson Hall of Fame in 2004 and into the Drew Hall of Fame in 2011 as coach of the school's 2001 championship team.
Coupled with the stream of success in competition, his teams have excelled as students, earning a total of 43 team academic awards from the ITA, which is the governing body of college tennis. His players have earned 139 ITA Scholar-Athlete awards as individuals.
His coaching extends outside the college ranks as well.
In United States Tennis Association (USTA) competition, he guided girls and boys age group 16 teams to a gold medal in 2006 and was the recipient of the 2006 ITA/USTA Eastern Section Campus Recreation Award. He also coached the United States boy’s and girl’s national teams in the 1999 Pan American Maccabi Games in Mexico City.
Updated August 2020
