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Published Jan 13, 2025
Laser-focused Miles ready to be part of Temple family
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John DiCarlo  •  OwlScoop
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When Temple was in Connecticut in late November to play in the Hall of Fame Tip Off, IMG Academy’s postgraduate team was in town as well for its own game and decided to take in the Owls’ game against UMass.

At one point, IMG coach Jimmy Carr looked over at his point guard, Temple signee Cam Miles, and took note of how he was watching.

“He was, like, laser focused,” Carr said, “like he wanted to be on the floor then.”

Head coach Adam Fisher and his Owls staff will have to wait another season for Miles, one of two players – along with Westtown School guard Cam Wallace – to sign with Temple during the NCAA’s early period back in November. A 6-foot-2, 180-pound point guard, Miles verbally committed to Temple back in September not long after taking his official visit on North Broad Street.

When Miles does get to Temple prior to the 2025-26 season, Carr believes Miles will contribute right away.

“He's an old basketball soul,” Carr said. “I think he's got a good appreciation and respect for the game. I think he's one of those kids that got guys like to play against. Because one, you know he's going to be like 100% all out, 100% effort guarding the ball. He's got a toughness about him on the defensive end. tough. And then just offensively, really, really good in ball screens, an extra-pass kid. Does a great job of finding guys late.

“It's like playing against the boxer. He's always counter punching. He's always jabbing at you.”

For an 11-3 IMG postgraduate team, Miles is averaging a team-high 21.6 points per game and a team-best 5.2 assists per game. He’s shooting 39% from three-point range, 85% from the free-throw line and he’s a +26 in plus/minus on the floor.

“We just beat NBA Academy Africa by 25 in the last day of our tournament,” Carr explained, “and he absolutely controlled the pace of the game for 40 minutes.”

When Miles committed to Temple, he told OwlScoop that Philadelphia felt like Chicago, the city where he lived before moving to Orlando with his family when he was 11. Having his family on hand during a ceremony at IMG in November in which he signed his National Letter of Intent meant a great deal to Miles, who was eager to make everything official.

“It felt amazing, honestly,” Miles told OwlScoop recently. “I was just ready to be part of the Temple family, so it was amazing to sign and have my family there, too. So it was a good feeling.”

Miles’ family includes his mother, Leah Brown, along with a father and stepfather who both played college ball. Jimmie Miles was a national top-50 recruit at Rich Central High School outside Chicago before signing with Valparaiso in 2003. Miles’ stepfather, Parrish Brown, played at Chicago’s famed Simeon High School and then at Thornridge High School before two JUCO seasons that primed him for his last two years in the ACC at Maryland in 2006 and 2007.

Cam Miles said he listens closely to both his father and stepfather and talks to them often.

“Every day,” Miles said. “Both of them just try to make sure I'm going down the right path. They both could have went to the NBA, but just made the wrong decisions. So, they were just telling me to make sure I go down the path, the right path, not the path they went down.”

Carr believes that path is headed in the right direction for Miles. He saw it back in the spring during Miles’ AAU season with SOH Elite, before Miles played a minute for him at IMG.

“I went and watched him in the first weekend of the AAU live period, and he was playing with two other point guards on the court on his team,” Carr recalled. “He just refuses to play the game the wrong way. He's never a kid who's going to be stat hungry. He's never a kid who's going to be just out there getting his, up 20 or down 20, and that really impressed me.”

Asked for a comparison for Miles, Carr brought up a former 76ers fan favorite.

“You know what the comparison is to me? T.J. McConnell,” Carr said, referencing the 10-year NBA veteran and Indiana Pacers point guard who played his first four seasons with the Sixers. “That’s what I always tell people. Relentless guy, great on ball screens, can really, really handle it.”

Miles played a national schedule last season at AZ Compass Prep, and Carr said Miles knew he would be young going into his college freshman season, so he pursued a prep year and wound up at IMG, one of the nation’s top programs, in Bradenton, Florida.

With most of his high school coursework in the books, Miles’ academic schedule is a little lighter at IMG. Between the coaching and the facilities, Miles said, a postgrad year felt like the right move and gives him plenty of time to improve.

“To be honest, it's probably one of the best decisions I made,” Miles said, “because I'm able to focus on just my game, really. So this season was probably the best thing I've done so I'll be ready for college next year.”

Carr believes his point guard will be more than ready to contribute right away at Temple for a few reasons. He sees the Owls as a fit for Miles’ playstyle and with a coaching staff that has connected with him.

Fisher and assistant coach Bobby Jordan, a former IMG Academy coach during the 2018-19 season, had been recruiting Miles for several months and made him a priority over the summer.

“I think Fish is a really good coach. I think he's a really bright guy,” Carr said. “And in today's college basketball, especially at the point guard, you have to have guys that know how to win, and I think the amount of winning that [Miles] been around and been a part of attracted [the Temple staff] to him. And Bobby's been chopping at this tree since last spring. And obviously, Bobby from coaching at IMG, I think he knew that if a kid is making that really good career basketball decision to come here, it's the closest thing to a college program that you're going to find. It really is, in terms of the lifting, the workouts. I think those guys (Temple) were attracted to his winning, and a kid who makes a career decision like this is going to help him so much down the road.”

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