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LOGAN — Midway through the second half of Utah State basketball's 32-point win over New Orleans on Dec. 11, Aggies guard Sean Bairstow sliced his finger open and blood spewed onto the court.
Fellow guard Steven Ashworth grabbed a towel to clean it up, and a team manager came onto the floor to assist. They appeared to have it taken care of, but as play was about to restart, senior guard Brock Miller noticed more drops of blood near the free-throw line.
Motioning for a towel, Miller proceeded to splotch up the remaining drops. As he finished up, a chant reigned down from the student sections.
"Mr. Clean! Mr. Clean"
Miller, whose signature look is a bald head with the headband, loved it. He turned to the crowd, waved his hands in the air, and encouraged the chants.
Fast forward two months.
After missing 14-straight games due to an ongoing lower back injury he sustained last season, Miller took the court on Tuesday night against New Mexico. He hasn't played since the Air Force game on Dec. 29.
Six minutes into the second half, Miller hit a corner 3-ball and the crowd erupted. As Miller waved his arms toward the crowd, the chant from December resurfaced.
"Mr. Clean! Mr. Clean!"
Miller smiled, and once again encouraged the crowd.
Miller's reaction to the chant is a perfect representation of his personality. The 25-year-old Sandy native has Alopecia, a disease where all the hair on his body falls off. The chant, a reference to the bald mascot of the cleaning brand Mr. Clean, could have been seen as offensive to some. But not to Miller.
"I just think that just shows the kind of nature this kid has," Utah State assistant coach Nate Dixon said. "You know, like, he's an easy going guy who loves students. He loves the fans. And he just went with it. You know, he could have been mad about it; he wasn't mad about it. He had fun with it."
It's been a roller-coaster season for the Aggies, especially in conference play. They lost five games in a row in January and then won five in a row. Then, they proceeded to lose four in a row.
But throughout the season, Miller has been a constant presence on the sidelines, despite not playing a large portion of it. The captain has consistently found ways to support the team, whether it's by showing up on time to practices, sending out text messages to teammates or being in the huddles before the game.
"He's a leader off the court. I mean, he's coaching, helping those guys," Dixon said. "He's just, you know, he brings a lot more that people don't ever see."
Miller has managed to help keep things light, despite the back-and-forth season.
While unable to practice, he'd beg the coaches to put him on the scout team, saying, "I can go a little bit coach." His teammates would dish it back to him. "Hey Mr. Clean man, you're gonna go get the floor."
The jokes happen in the film room, too. Always sitting on the front row while the team watches tape, Miller has a running joke about popcorn.
"I'll go into film and I'll go, 'hey, man, did you get your popcorn ready,'' Dixon said. "He's like, 'Dixon, are we gonna be in here a long time? Do I need my popcorn today?'"
After someone brought popcorn to the team following the win over New Mexico, he suggested putting it on the desk of head coach Ryan Odom — a fellow popcorn admirer — to see if anybody steals it.
"He keeps it serious when it needs to be but he's an even keel," Dixon said. "You always know what you're going to get from the dude. He never had a bad day. It's impossible for Brock Miller to have a bad day."
"You know, he just provides an intensity, leadership that is so important for any team," Odom said. "He means a ton to us."
Miller's value is clear — even beyond his leadership. A four-year starter, he's a reliable perimeter defender and a dangerous 3-point threat. He's consistently averaged just over 8 points per game throughout his career.
This season Utah State has gone 10-5, including a Quad 1 win over Oklahoma, where Miller hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Aggies a late lead. During the tough conference slate, in which Miller was out, the Aggies went just 6-8.
Miller has dealt with three bulging discs, two fractures and "a couple" of tears in his lower back. The injury wasn't enough to end Miller's season, but the constant pain has admittedly made things difficult.
"Your back affects everything in your life," Miller said, while sitting in the familiar front row of the film room. "You don't realize how much you use it until you hurt it."
But not one to complain, the Brighton High graduate said his "level of gratitude" toward the game has grown because he's had to sit out. He's quick to thank the trainers and the university for providing resources to help.
Miller seems to be a walking example of the Spanish phrase "Así es la vida," which he may have heard on the streets of Buenos Aires, Argentina, during his church mission.
Directly translated to English, the phrase means "That's life," and more indirectly, it means "that's how it goes."
Sitting on the sideline in pain, Miller managed to go with the flow.
"I'd say that my perspective of life and kind of where I was heading and stuff, it had stayed pretty level, due to kind of what defines me as a human being," Miller said.
"Basketball has never been something that's defined my life and who I am as a person," he added. "I enjoy it a lot; it's really fun. I love playing. You know, my perspective is always, put God first, family second."
It's a healthy perspective to have, especially considering basketball isn't the only important thing happening in Miller's life. His wife, Bailey, is pregnant with their first child and she's expected to give birth to a baby boy Wednesday.
A pregnant wife and an injured husband has no doubt made for a hectic winter for the Millers. But Miller admits he feels a mixture of "nerves and "excitement" about starting a family.
"Obviously, there's a lot going on," Miller said. "But it hasn't been super difficult because of how amazing (Bailey) is as a person and as a partner. She supported me every step of the way. And, obviously, you know, it's an exciting time. … We're excited for the opportunity to start a family, it's something that we've always wanted to do."
But before becoming a father to a boy who "already has a scholarship offer" according to Odom, Miller has a huge basketball game to play in on Saturday night against Colorado State.
Miller, who technically has one year of eligibility remaining due to COVID-19, will be honored on senior night Saturday, in what could be his final game in the Spectrum.
If he is done after this season, it'll be the end of an era for a player who is the link to four different Aggies basketball generations.
Miller was recruited out of high school by Stew Morrill — the winningest coach in Aggie history. But Morrill retired in 2015, so Miller played under Tim Duryea his freshman season from 2017-18; Duryea was replaced by Craig Smith in 2018. Miller played under Smith from his redshirt freshman season through his junior year. Now, following Smith's departure to Utah, Miller is a senior under Odom.
"I've been part of so many different teams and so many different things that I would say, you know, now it's kind of all come together this last season," Miller said. "My understanding is a lot greater, I'd say, from where I was when I first started here.
Miller has started 104 games in his career, seventh most in Aggies history. He's helped Utah State qualify for three NCAA Tournaments, win two Mountain West tournament championships and one regular-season championship.
Following senior night at Colorado State, the Aggies visit San Jose State Friday. Then it's onto the Mountain West Tournament.
At 16-13 on the season, the Aggies won't secure an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, but they have enough experience and quality wins on the season that shows they're capable of running the table at their conference tournament and earning an automatic bid. Currently seventh in the conference — 52nd nationally in the KenPom.com ranking — Utah State believes they can do it again, and Miller is focused on helping his team win.
"The only thing he's ever said to me since day one, he said to the other guys, for the team is, I want another ring," Dixon said.
It starts Saturday night. Several family members will come up to watch Miller play at a university and in a city and for a team that all "means so much" to him. If they're lucky, maybe he'll hit a few 3-pointers, igniting multiple chants of "Mr. Clean!"
No matter what ultimately happens, Miller will be all right. His "never too high, never too low" mantra has gotten him through five seasons of Aggies basketball. It's helped him through a crippling back injury, and it'll help him as he becomes a father in the coming days.
Basketball, like everything else, has its place.
"When I go home to my wife and now my kids soon, it'll be a thing of, when I go home, I'm home," Miller said. "I'm home with the family and those stresses and things won't translate to the way that I treat them and the things that I do and that I'll be consistent."
