Pure joy.
That’s what Abby Miller experiences each and every time she laces up for competition.
Thing is, Miller figured her playing career was going to end with a scrapbook full of memories and her eyes would turn to coaching the game she loves.
Hang on a second.
Miller is a case study of perseverance and commitment.
A walk on at Mount Allison University with the Mounties, Miller would eventually be a part of the No. 1-ranked team in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association, her play leading to an MVP award for the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association in 2022-23.
Graduating from the Sackville campus, Miller found another opportunity to keep playing, finishing her fifth and final year of eligibility with the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers in the Atlantic University Sport conference.
All the while playing at the university level, the Mount Denson, NS, product was a key player in the Maritime Women’s Basketball Association, playing with the Moncton Mystics and Miramichi Her-Icanes.
Miller was part of Miramichi’s championship run in 2025, a starter for Neil Smith’s squad, who ate rebounds for lunch and could find herself in the thick of action at both ends of the hardwood.
And now?
Well, the run of accomplishments continues for the affable Miller.
She signed a professional contract in Portugal and will begin the next stage of basketball life for the 2025-26 season overseas.
‘Things have happened so fast, it really has,’ said Miller, who fully anticipated being part of Matt Gamblin’s UPEI coaching staff this season. ‘I’ve had to adjust to the feeling of being finished playing outside of the MWBA. And both times, I’ve had an incredible and unexpected opportunities come up to give me the chance to continue my career.’
Miller sits seventh all-time in MWBA scoring, amassing 322 points over four seasons, playing 37 games and averaging 8.7 points per game.
It was an MWBA connection that paved the road to Portgual, thanks to her sister and a former league player.
‘It’s super cool that it was an MWBA connection that started all of this,’ Miller said. ‘Karissa Kajorinne played with my sister Jessica with the Windsor Edge (now Lake City 56ers) in the inaugural season. Karissa has been in Portugal for three years, so she reached out to my sister asking if I had any interest in playing overseas.’
Connections made.
Conversations continued, Miller learned more about the country, team and lifestyle, a chat was held with the head coach and there you have it, pro deal in hand.
‘It’s obviously a major decision to make a lifestyle change like this is going to be, especially with it all being so unexpected,’ Miller said. ‘I tried to be practical in my decision-making, making sure I had all of the facts and information I needed before confirming anything. But I knew immediately it was something I had to do and that I would do whatever it took to make it happen.’
She will report for her first pro training camp later in the fall, preparing to suit up for Associação Académica de Coimbra in Portugal.
The riverfront City of Coimbra has a population of just over 140,000.
There’s just a bit of history as well, considering numerous structures date back to the Roman era. Coimbra, in fact, used to be Portugal’s capital city from 1131 to 1255.
Did we mention history?
Miller will get to experience her new surroundings in October.
She is in the process of obtaining her work visa and will depart once the paperwork is official.
For now, Miller is hitting the weight room and working on her own with shooting and skill sessions. She has specific feedback on what the coaching staff would like her to work on in preparation for the season.
‘I’m catering my workouts to what they’re looking for,’ she said. ‘It’s been mostly self-directed up until this point.’
Through her career at Mount Allison, UPEI and the MWBA, she has met numerous teammates, made countless friends and earned her way to becoming one of the top players in the league during her time with the Mystics and ‘Canes.
‘I really can not say enough good things about the MWBA,’ she said. ‘When I started in the league, I was still at MTA. The chance to play with different and elite-level players had such an irreplaceable impact on my development as a player. Then it was my path back to playing at the university level. I would have never had thought UPEI was an option for me if it weren’t for Miramichi introducing me to my future Panthers teammates. And again, it was an MWBA connection that created this upcoming opportunity for me through Karissa. The league is not only a great place for women to continue playing after their finished their collegiate careers, it’s a really cool way to create a community and network that is only going to strengthen the growth of women’s basketball.’
Miller has achieved personal success through sheer determination.
It is not a cliché.
Blood. Sweat. Some tears.
But never a moment of quit in her body.
That comes from love of game, purely and simply.
It’s Miller’s trademark.
‘Don’t discredit the power of the love of the game because I would never really describe myself as a technically proficient basketball player,’ she said candidly. ‘I decided that even if I was not the most skilled player on the floor, I could always be the hardest-working player on the floor. I’ve always been praised for how much “heart” I play with. Growing up, I never really took the time to think about what that meant. But as I started to learn about and focus more on the mental side of the game, I now realize that the heart everyone was seeing was my genuine passion and love for the game.’
It hasn’t always been rainbows and butterflies for Miller.
A crushing defeat in the ACAA final with her Mounties No. 1 in the nation stung like a hornet’s wrath a few years ago.
The uncertainty of stepping out of the ACAA and into USPORTS was a moment of gulp when Gamblin came calling.
‘Anyone who’s played basketball for this long and at this level will tell you there are times where it’s not fun, there are times when the game tests you, and there are times where you think it might be time to give it up,’ she said. ‘And what always pulled me through those moments was remembering why I was there. Yes, because I loved it, but also because of all of the people around me who loved it as much as I did and who supported me to get to where I was. I played most of my career at the small college level and so I really never thought I was going to have the opportunity to play professionally.’
She credits former Mount Allison head coach Ryan Chase as a key mentor.
Chase, now Basketball New Brunswick’s director of operations, is a former CCAA coach of the year during his time in Sackville.
‘I was fortunate enough to have a coach as committed and knowledgeable as Ryan and he is the main reason I was able to be as successful as I was at CCAA and continue playing,’ she said. ‘All of the choices I’ve made and opportunities I’ve had with this sport have been propelled by how much I love to play basketball and would not have happened without the love of the people supporting me. So, when you’re wondering if it’s worth it to keep putting the hard work in, if you love it, it’s worth it.’
Miller becomes the latest MWBA player to sign a pro deal, the second player this season, in fact with Lake City’s MacKenzie Smith inking a deal in Greece. They follow in the footsteps of Kajorinne, Tiffany Reynolds (Nicaragua, Australia), Sophia Widmeyer (Ireland), Alaina McMillan (France) and Elizabeth Iseyemi (Germany). Numerous other former pros have played in the MWBA including Ali Berry (Germany), Leo Elbert (Germany), Kaylee Kilpatrick (Ireland, Germany, Australia) and Hannah Brown (Germany) to name a few.
‘We understand the MWBA players have played elsewhere before joining our league, but we absolutely love hearing feedback from players from our league who have signed pro contracts or have joined our league and love the high level of competition,’ said MWBA commissioner, Jen McKenzie of Dartmouth, NS. ‘Our league has allowed young players like Abby and so many more to face stiff competition and learn from excelling coaching and competitive levels. We’re incredibly proud when our players take next steps in the game whether it’s signing a pro deal, becoming a coach or giving back to their communities.’
– Abby Miller, No. 16, is off to play pro in Portugal. (Fran Harris Photo)