Former Piston Terry Mills helped development of Henry Ford Community College big man

Former Piston and University of Michigan and Romulus great Terry Mills has been an assistant basketball coach at Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn for a couple of seasons now, and this past season, he got the chance to work with an Eastern Michigan recruit, big man James Still.

Patrick Hayes of BallinMichigan (* ahem *) recently wrote about Mills’ work with Still:

Despite the attention, he still had a standout season, averaging 15.9 points, 12.6 rebounds, 5.2 blocks and 2.3 assists per game. Still also showed off an ability to score around the basket and also step out and hit jumpers from the perimeter. Playing for Henry Ford, he also got the opportunity to work with former University of Michigan standout and NBA big man Terry Mills. Mills, also a 6-foot-10 player, worked with Still on the finer points of interior play.

“He taught me a lot about playing in the post,” Still said. “He talked to me about taking my time, not rushing shots, and worked with me on being able to use both my right and left hand.”

“Mills taught James how to think through the game at a higher level,” (Henry Ford coach Abe) Mashour said. “His (Mills’) career changed, where he went from being an inside scorer to more of a stretch four, so he was able to talk to James about both the inside and outside game and the importance of being flexible in order to succeed at different levels.

That’s a pretty cool opportunity for JUCO players — getting the chance to learn from someone who had as strong a NBA career as Mills. Also, that BallinMichigan site sounds great. You should probably subscribe to the RSS, follow on Twitter and like on Facebook if you’re so inclined.

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