Miller Kopp grateful for every time he gets to represent Indiana basketball: ‘I wear that badge with honor’

Miller Kopp wasn’t your traditional Hoosier. He didn’t grow up in Indiana. He didn’t watch Indiana basketball growing up or even commit to Indiana out of high school — but his love for the university and basketball program is extremely high.

The 2023 graduate played two seasons in Bloomington after transferring in from Northwestern. He was part of Mike Woodson’s first incoming class as head coach at Indiana. And now — over a year removed from playing his last game as a Hoosier, his love for the program has only grown.

Kopp was part of the first-ever Indiana basketball alumni team, Assembly Ball, in TBT — the $1 million winner-take-all tournament — this summer. He was also in the midst of trying to jumpstart his professional career in the NBA Summer League. With schedules overlapping in Assembly Ball’s first game of the tournament due to his final game with the Oklahoma City Thunder in Vegas, Kopp was unable to sport the candy stripes in Indianapolis. But, nothing was going to hold him back from joining some of his other IU alum on Sunday.

Despite a delayed and then cancelled flight the night before out of Vegas, Kopp made it to Indianapolis just a few hours before tipoff. It was a thanks to his brother who drove him down from Chicago.

“Definitely worth it. Big shoutout to my older brother,” Kopp said on Tuesday night. “It was like 3:00 am out in Vegas and called him and somehow he answered at like 5:00 am his time and drove three and a half hours to Chicago to pick me up to drive me three and a half hours back to Indianapolis. So shoutout to him and my mom for getting a good flight and figuring it out. It was crazy.”

After a win on Sunday, Assembly Ball returned to action on Tuesday for a spot in the Elite Eight. A short-handed roster unfortunately led to a three-point loss — ending their tournament. But, it was something Kopp wouldn’t have changed — the chance to represent Indiana once again.

“It was awesome,” Kopp said. “It was really cool to put on the (Indiana) colors again, even though it wasn’t exactly for the Hoosiers. It was still representing the brand, the school, the university and program. It was really cool and I’m very grateful I was able to do it and hope I can do it next year as well.”

Kopp — who played from 2021-2023 for Indiana, was an important part to the success of the Hoosiers for the first two years of the Mike Woodson era. He was part of the group that went to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments after the previous six years without postseason play.

He appeared in 70 games during his time in Bloomington, starting all 70. By the time he left, he set the record for most Big Ten games played in a career.

He was always a team-first player who went from scoring in double-figures in two of his first three seasons, to averaging 6.0 points and then 8.1 in his two seasons with IU.

So absolutely nothin was going to stop him from getting back to Indianapolis to play this summer.

“I always have nothing but love for IU fans.” Kopp said. “They’ve always showed me support and since day one it’s only grown — hopefully mutually. Any time I’m able to represent the university, even if it’s for a different team professionally, or something like this, it’s amazing opportunity.

“I wear that badge (Indiana basketball jersey) with honor knowing I’m representing Indiana and the fans hopefully appreciate that and I’m super grateful to be part of the family.”

That badge is something Kopp is extremely proud to now be a part of — the alumni base. He has joined a prestigious group from a historic program and despite a rocky past decade, he wants to be part of the era that re-unites some of that alumni base.

“We’re stronger as a university and alumni group together and connected,” Kopp added. “With some of the other blue bloods, they have that and we do (now) as well and it’s about continuing to build that with tying in the different generations and eras knowing it’s going to make us stronger and the program better for years to come.”

SEE ALSO: Former Indiana basketball center Kel’el Ware receives high praise for play during NBA Summer League

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