With COVID-19 putting live sporting events on hold, the Cascade Collegiate Conference wanted to take the time to highlight families within our #ThisIsTheCCC community. Many of our member institutions have administration, coaches and student-athletes family members competing together, making the CCC truly a family affair.
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The families featured in the Cascade Collegiate Conference Family Affair series have all been from the same university, but two years ago there were two brothers playing against each other.
Ivory Miles-Williams was a sophomore on the College of Idaho men’s basketball team during the 2018-19 season, while his brother Tommy Miles-Williams was a junior on the Eastern Oregon University men’s basketball squad.
“Growing up in my family, it was very competitive,” said Ivory, who is majoring in psychology, while minoring in theatre, coaching, and natural science. “My family is a basketball family and everyone had a goal that had been set by our parents to go to college and play basketball because it would shape our adult life.”
The Miles-Williams brothers grew up in Lapwai, Idaho on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation. Their mom Rebecca coached the two in high school with Lapwai High having a strong history in both basketball and the Miles-Williams family.
“If you look at the basketball history in Lapwai, it’s very well-known,” said Ivory. “My uncles all played for the team that went 81-0 through the years 1987, 88, and 89. Every year each team seems to have lots of talent that faces its own battles.”
When Ivory was a junior in high school, he knew he wanted to play basketball at the next level. He had dreamed of playing in the NCAA Division I tournament, but soon realized he just wanted to hoop wherever he could.
“I realized my dreams and aspirations were to play college basketball anywhere regardless of the level because it was about the bigger picture and furthering my education at the right institution,” said Ivory.
It led him to join the Coyotes, which meant playing against his brother for a year. That year, C of I won the series with two wins over the Mountaineers, but there was at least one Coyote still supporting a Mountie and vice versa.