Former Kickapoo teammates Molly Miller and Heather Ezell are succeeding as Division I head coaches

Grand Canyon women's basketball coach Molly Miller was observing game film in November when she was hit with a wave of familiarity.

Miller was scouting North Dakota, which hosted Wyoming two weeks before the Fighting Hawks made the trip the Phoenix school. North Dakota was the task, but Miller's eyes couldn't help but wander toward Wyoming's bench as she pored through the tape.

Her longtime friend and former Kickapoo High School teammate, Wyoming head coach Heather Ezell, exhibitted much of the same competitive fire she had in Springfield.

"It's been fun to watch her from afar," Miller said. "Wyoming definitely emulates Heather in its toughness and grittiness."

Likewise for Ezell, who shared the backcourt with Miller when a nationally-ranked Kickapoo won a state championship in 2003.

"I've really enjoyed watching Molly continue to grow, and taking that Grant Canyon program to the next level," Ezell said.

Neither is lost on the rarity of former high school teammates going on to lead their respective Division I programs.

"We were little blonde girls just scrapping on the court," Miller reflected. "Crazy to think that was 20 years go. I joke with her that we're old now."

Miller, the former Drury star and head coach, is enjoying her second season at Grand Canyon, where she has helped the Lopes reach back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in the program's Division I history.

Grand Canyon (20-9, 12-6) opens up the Western Athletic Conference Tournament next week as the No. 4 seed.

Ezell, who went on to have have a brilliant playing career at Iowa State, was a Wyoming assistant for seven seasons before her promotion last year, shortly after the Cowgirls appeared in the NCAA Tournament.

Wyoming (20-9, 13-5) enters next week's Mountain West Conference Tournament as the No. 2 seed.

They share the same overall record, but their paths from Kickapoo to the highest rung of college women's basketball are much different.

High basketball IQs from the beginning

There's a group chat among several of the Kickapoo players from the early 2000s, keeping touch in the form of nostalgia.

Most of the names on those rosters went on to have lives away from basketball, but they often share old photos and memories of one of greatest high school basketball dynasties in the Queen City.

Miller, known as Molly Carter during her playing days, initially entered the business world before stepping into an assistant coaching role at Drury, where she would later become a two-time NCAA Division II Coach of the Year.

Drury was a force under Miller, going a combined 180-17 in six seasons. The Panthers were widely expected to win a national title in 2020, Miller's season with the program, but the pandemic wiped out the postseason for a Drury team that boasted a 32-0 record.

Miller was able to leverage that success into her current Division I post.

At 5-foot-6, Miller didn't generate much Division I recruiting interest during her standout high school career. As a coach, though, she's proving she belongs at that level.

Ezell, who graduated Kickapoo a year after Miller in 2005 and was the Missouri State Player of the Year, isn't surprised.

"There is no doubt that her basketball IQ is high, and it was in high school," Ezell said of Miller. "Her and I were gym rats."

Ezell went on to become one of finest shooters in Iowa State history, tying the Cyclones' career record for 3-pointers made (287). She earned All-Big 12 honors in 2008, and helped Iowa State to three NCAA Tournament appearances, including the 2009 Elite Eight.

After playing professionally for a year in Iceland, Ezell got her foot in the door as an assistant at NCAA Division I Fairfield for a season before returning to Missouri, where she was an assistant at Southeast Missouri State from 2011-2015.

She has been at Wyoming since, and was given the keys to the program after former Cowgirls head coach Gerald Mattinson announced his retirement last March.

When Miller and Ezell see each other now, it's often away from Springfield.

"We always run into each other during recruiting trips," Miller said. "It's nice to see someone you've known for so long."

So will Grand Canyon and Wyoming schedule each other in the future for another Kickapoo reunion?

"That would be a nice one to grab," Ezell said. Maybe try and get a home-and-home series. "

Shaped by Springfield basketball success

Considering the success that surrounded them, it wasn't hard for Miller or Ezell to grow an adoration for the game.

They witnessed a Cheryl Burnett-coached Missouri State team reach the Final Four of the 2001 NCAA women's basketball tournament, an effort led by one of the purest shooters in women's college basketball history, Jackie Stiles.

Drury, which started its women's program in 2000, was an immediate success under coach Nyla Milleson, making several deep NCAA II postseason runs, including a spot in the 2004 national championship game, the year Miller signed a letter of intent with the Panthers.

At Kickapoo, Miller and Ezell's head coach, the late Stephanie Phillips, also had a major impact on the Springfield basketball landscape after taking the baton from three-time state champion Sue Schuble, who retired after winning a state title in 2001.

Phillips posted an impressive 214-38 record during her nine seasons at Kickapoo, including the 2003 and 2005 state championships.

"We were very fortunate to have her," Ezell said of Phillips, who succumbed to cancer in 2010 at age 36. "You can tell that her coaching rubbed off on us."

Leslie Hanchey, who teamed up with Ezell and Miller at Kickapoo before playing at Southwest Baptist, is in her seventh season as the Lady Chiefs' associate head coach. She has been helping the program for the past 15 years.

Three key players from the 2004 Kickapoo team still heavily involved in the sport? That's doesn't appear to be a coincidence, according to Miller.

"As players, we didn't truly grasp the influence Phillips had on us," Miller said. "But now we do."

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Former Kickapoo teammates Miller and Ezell succeeding as DI coaches