Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
From homelessness to MT: Millner’s story one of growth
6/18/2020 5:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball, BRAA
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — The bright lights in Middle Tennessee's Murphy Center flip back on following team introductions on the morning of Nov. 5, 2019, as one of the newest additions to the Blue Raiders, Jo'Vontae Millner, takes his place in center circle to battle for the tip off.
Pregame butterflies reach their crescendo as the referee approaches, ball in hand, to officially start the 2019-20 MT basketball season. The Blue Raiders are facing Maryville College, an NCAA Division III school from just down the road in Maryville, Tennessee.
As the ball goes up, Millner, a junior, leaps right before his counterpart and slaps the ball backwards to point guard Donovan Sims — it's just the first victory of the day for Millner, who goes on to register a double-double in his first game wearing blue and white, 15 points and 13 rebounds.
After the sneakers stop chirping and the final buzzer sounds on a 119-61 MT win, Millner is one of three Raider players who join head coach Nick McDevitt for postgame media availability. The first thing that stands out as the 6-foot-7 forward walks into the room — other than his height — is his smile. He has more of a right than just about anyone in the gym to have a grin from ear to ear.
'Sometimes, I would just walk all night until the sun came up'
Millner grew up in Burlington, North Carolina, right on Tobacco Road where some believe is basketball heaven — at least college basketball heaven. Burlington, a city of just over 50,000 people situated on Interstate 40, is between Greensboro and Durham, less than an hour from basketball powerhouses Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest and North Carolina State.
He was preparing to enter his freshman year at Hugh M. Cummings High School when his family came upon hard times. They were forced out of their apartment, and Millner went to live with a friend. Right after, though, he got into minor trouble with the law and had a falling out with the friend.
When Millner's mother and sister found another apartment to call home, the decision was made for him to find other living arrangements. He had nowhere to go, and began his freshman year of high school homeless.
"During the summer, I became homeless," he said. "On nights where I couldn't find anywhere to sleep, I would sleep on my friend's front porch, on a park bench, in a car — stuff like that. Or, sometimes, I would just walk all night until the sun came up.
"I'm not that type of person to ask someone for help. I've always felt like no matter what, I was going to be OK."
Millner found solace on some nights walking around parks in Burlington from sun down to sun up, thinking about his situation and how he could come out of it. It would have been easy to fall into a downward spiral, but he constantly reminded himself better times were coming.
"After a while, I stopped asking myself why it was happening and kept telling myself when I get older, there are definitely going to be better days," he said. "I always felt like it would get better, and I would just sit up and think about what I could do to get myself out of that situation. I was just thinking about ways I could be successful and kind of beat the odds."
A way out
Once basketball season started, Millner found a way to beat those odds, though at first, it looked like it would just be another heartbreak. He was playing on the Cummings junior varsity team, and his attitude was getting the better of him. The varsity coach, Chas Criss, in his second year coaching at the school, entered the locker room one day and told Millner if he didn't shape up, he'd never play on a team Criss coached.
"You could see he had talent, but he had a bit of a chip on his shoulder and was a little angry at times," Criss, 40, said. "We had a talk right after a game in the locker room, and I think at that point, he thought he was going to have to transfer because I got onto him pretty good. That was our introduction to one another."
Something Criss said clicked in Millner's head, and their bond was instantly there. Though he might not have known it quite yet, Millner had found a father figure, someone who cared deeply where he was sleeping at night and where his next meal was coming from.
Criss and his wife, Lindsey, had been married for a few years and had a newborn baby boy when they met Millner. Criss was, and still is, a basketball junkie. His dad, Charlie Criss, played seven years in the NBA in the 1970s and 80s for the Atlanta Hawks, San Diego Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks, and Criss played collegiately at Gardner-Webb.
Millner and Criss first bonded over basketball, and the Crisses started taking Millner to his AAU practices and games during the spring and summer between his freshman and sophomore years. Criss would also pick Millner up early in the morning to take him to the high school, where Millner would work out, shower and eat before classes started.
Every time the Crisses dropped him off after school, practice or games, their concern grew over where and how he was living.
"The first time I realized he wasn't staying at home, he had me drop him off at a different place than usual," Criss said. "We would just pull up to a stop sign, and he would say, 'Just let me out here.'
"My wife and I decided since we didn't know what his situation was and we had the room, maybe he would want to stay with us."
The Crisses asked Millner to stay with them. The hard-headed teenager didn't accept their help at first, however, and even when he finally did, he felt uncomfortable.
One night about a week into staying with the Crisses, Millner got up in the middle of the night and left without telling them where he was going or why. He simply didn't feel like he deserved a place at their home and that he was impeding on their family.
"I'm the type of person that if I feel like I'm at someone's house too long, I'm overstaying my welcome," Millner said. "For the first couple of days, maybe the first week, I barely ate, because I felt like I was taking food out of their mouths. It didn't feel right."
The Crisses were able to get Millner to come back to their home over the next few days and convinced him they wanted him to be part of their family. He's lived with them ever since.
Basketball dreams coming true
With a stable household to go home to every night, Millner started to excel on the hardwood. He earned Mid-State 2A Conference Player of the Year and Region Player of the Year honors as a junior and senior and finished with 1,234 points, 955 rebounds and 138 blocks in his high school career. He also became active in the community, volunteering with Special Olympics, the Cummings Annual Blood Drive and Burlington Housing Authority Summer Camp.
He signed with Presbyterian College — his only Division I scholarship offer — during his senior year, where he would lead the team in scoring and rebounding average as a freshman. A season-ending injury just 7 minutes into his sophomore year threw a bit of a roadblock his way, though, and he decided to redshirt and transfer to Cape Fear Community College. After competing against Presbyterian and Millner as the head coach at Big South rival UNC Asheville, McDevitt's interest in him continued to grow with Millner seeking his next Division I destination.
"Jo'Vontae brings versatility to our team," McDevitt said of the long, athletic forward. "His ability to pass, dribble and shoot at 6-foot-7 allows for him to do multiple things on the offensive end, and his strength and mobility at that size allow us to play him in a variety of ways on the defensive end as well."
Though he missed 12 games due to injury during his first year at Middle Tennessee, Millner flashed his potential several times. He averaged 6.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest, tallying four double-digit scoring games, three double-digit rebounding games and two double-doubles in 19 games, earning nine starts.
'They mean everything'
In every game Millner played for the Blue Raiders in his first season in Murfreesboro, the Crisses watched intently, swelling with pride at seeing him succeed again at the Division I level. When the family watches Millner in the blue and white uniform as a senior, they'll also see something new on the back of his jersey — their last name.
On Mother's Day this year, Millner told the Crisses he wanted them to adopt him, and he'll officially change his last name this summer to Millner-Criss.
"That was pretty incredible," Criss said. "My mom was actually abandoned, so we had always thought about adopting a child.
"It was something that we always hoped would be a possibility one day, but we never pressured him into it. It was unbelievable when he brought us the adoption letter."
Millner said he doesn't want to completely drop Millner from his last name, since it's part of who he is. He just wants to finalize the Crisses as his legal parents.
"To me, no one can tell me they aren't my parents," he said. "My real mom and I never really had a strong relationship. I've always told her no matter what I'll always love her because she gave me life, but our relationship has never been there.
"The Crisses, those two people mean absolutely everything to me. Watching them interact with other people and seeing how much they try to help, that's opened my eyes and made me so mature in so many ways. They've made me a better person and are the reason I'm the man I am today ... and they've shown me what it's like to be loved. I just love them, man."
When he was homeless walking around Burlington as a high school freshman, Millner always pictured better times were coming. Those better times are here.
Pregame butterflies reach their crescendo as the referee approaches, ball in hand, to officially start the 2019-20 MT basketball season. The Blue Raiders are facing Maryville College, an NCAA Division III school from just down the road in Maryville, Tennessee.
As the ball goes up, Millner, a junior, leaps right before his counterpart and slaps the ball backwards to point guard Donovan Sims — it's just the first victory of the day for Millner, who goes on to register a double-double in his first game wearing blue and white, 15 points and 13 rebounds.
After the sneakers stop chirping and the final buzzer sounds on a 119-61 MT win, Millner is one of three Raider players who join head coach Nick McDevitt for postgame media availability. The first thing that stands out as the 6-foot-7 forward walks into the room — other than his height — is his smile. He has more of a right than just about anyone in the gym to have a grin from ear to ear.
'Sometimes, I would just walk all night until the sun came up'
Millner grew up in Burlington, North Carolina, right on Tobacco Road where some believe is basketball heaven — at least college basketball heaven. Burlington, a city of just over 50,000 people situated on Interstate 40, is between Greensboro and Durham, less than an hour from basketball powerhouses Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest and North Carolina State.
He was preparing to enter his freshman year at Hugh M. Cummings High School when his family came upon hard times. They were forced out of their apartment, and Millner went to live with a friend. Right after, though, he got into minor trouble with the law and had a falling out with the friend.
When Millner's mother and sister found another apartment to call home, the decision was made for him to find other living arrangements. He had nowhere to go, and began his freshman year of high school homeless.
"During the summer, I became homeless," he said. "On nights where I couldn't find anywhere to sleep, I would sleep on my friend's front porch, on a park bench, in a car — stuff like that. Or, sometimes, I would just walk all night until the sun came up.
"I'm not that type of person to ask someone for help. I've always felt like no matter what, I was going to be OK."
Millner found solace on some nights walking around parks in Burlington from sun down to sun up, thinking about his situation and how he could come out of it. It would have been easy to fall into a downward spiral, but he constantly reminded himself better times were coming.
"After a while, I stopped asking myself why it was happening and kept telling myself when I get older, there are definitely going to be better days," he said. "I always felt like it would get better, and I would just sit up and think about what I could do to get myself out of that situation. I was just thinking about ways I could be successful and kind of beat the odds."
A way out
Once basketball season started, Millner found a way to beat those odds, though at first, it looked like it would just be another heartbreak. He was playing on the Cummings junior varsity team, and his attitude was getting the better of him. The varsity coach, Chas Criss, in his second year coaching at the school, entered the locker room one day and told Millner if he didn't shape up, he'd never play on a team Criss coached.
"You could see he had talent, but he had a bit of a chip on his shoulder and was a little angry at times," Criss, 40, said. "We had a talk right after a game in the locker room, and I think at that point, he thought he was going to have to transfer because I got onto him pretty good. That was our introduction to one another."
Something Criss said clicked in Millner's head, and their bond was instantly there. Though he might not have known it quite yet, Millner had found a father figure, someone who cared deeply where he was sleeping at night and where his next meal was coming from.
Criss and his wife, Lindsey, had been married for a few years and had a newborn baby boy when they met Millner. Criss was, and still is, a basketball junkie. His dad, Charlie Criss, played seven years in the NBA in the 1970s and 80s for the Atlanta Hawks, San Diego Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks, and Criss played collegiately at Gardner-Webb.
Millner and Criss first bonded over basketball, and the Crisses started taking Millner to his AAU practices and games during the spring and summer between his freshman and sophomore years. Criss would also pick Millner up early in the morning to take him to the high school, where Millner would work out, shower and eat before classes started.
Every time the Crisses dropped him off after school, practice or games, their concern grew over where and how he was living.
"The first time I realized he wasn't staying at home, he had me drop him off at a different place than usual," Criss said. "We would just pull up to a stop sign, and he would say, 'Just let me out here.'
"My wife and I decided since we didn't know what his situation was and we had the room, maybe he would want to stay with us."
The Crisses asked Millner to stay with them. The hard-headed teenager didn't accept their help at first, however, and even when he finally did, he felt uncomfortable.
One night about a week into staying with the Crisses, Millner got up in the middle of the night and left without telling them where he was going or why. He simply didn't feel like he deserved a place at their home and that he was impeding on their family.
"I'm the type of person that if I feel like I'm at someone's house too long, I'm overstaying my welcome," Millner said. "For the first couple of days, maybe the first week, I barely ate, because I felt like I was taking food out of their mouths. It didn't feel right."
The Crisses were able to get Millner to come back to their home over the next few days and convinced him they wanted him to be part of their family. He's lived with them ever since.
Basketball dreams coming true
With a stable household to go home to every night, Millner started to excel on the hardwood. He earned Mid-State 2A Conference Player of the Year and Region Player of the Year honors as a junior and senior and finished with 1,234 points, 955 rebounds and 138 blocks in his high school career. He also became active in the community, volunteering with Special Olympics, the Cummings Annual Blood Drive and Burlington Housing Authority Summer Camp.
He signed with Presbyterian College — his only Division I scholarship offer — during his senior year, where he would lead the team in scoring and rebounding average as a freshman. A season-ending injury just 7 minutes into his sophomore year threw a bit of a roadblock his way, though, and he decided to redshirt and transfer to Cape Fear Community College. After competing against Presbyterian and Millner as the head coach at Big South rival UNC Asheville, McDevitt's interest in him continued to grow with Millner seeking his next Division I destination.
"Jo'Vontae brings versatility to our team," McDevitt said of the long, athletic forward. "His ability to pass, dribble and shoot at 6-foot-7 allows for him to do multiple things on the offensive end, and his strength and mobility at that size allow us to play him in a variety of ways on the defensive end as well."
Though he missed 12 games due to injury during his first year at Middle Tennessee, Millner flashed his potential several times. He averaged 6.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest, tallying four double-digit scoring games, three double-digit rebounding games and two double-doubles in 19 games, earning nine starts.
'They mean everything'
In every game Millner played for the Blue Raiders in his first season in Murfreesboro, the Crisses watched intently, swelling with pride at seeing him succeed again at the Division I level. When the family watches Millner in the blue and white uniform as a senior, they'll also see something new on the back of his jersey — their last name.
On Mother's Day this year, Millner told the Crisses he wanted them to adopt him, and he'll officially change his last name this summer to Millner-Criss.
"That was pretty incredible," Criss said. "My mom was actually abandoned, so we had always thought about adopting a child.
"It was something that we always hoped would be a possibility one day, but we never pressured him into it. It was unbelievable when he brought us the adoption letter."
Millner said he doesn't want to completely drop Millner from his last name, since it's part of who he is. He just wants to finalize the Crisses as his legal parents.
"To me, no one can tell me they aren't my parents," he said. "My real mom and I never really had a strong relationship. I've always told her no matter what I'll always love her because she gave me life, but our relationship has never been there.
"The Crisses, those two people mean absolutely everything to me. Watching them interact with other people and seeing how much they try to help, that's opened my eyes and made me so mature in so many ways. They've made me a better person and are the reason I'm the man I am today ... and they've shown me what it's like to be loved. I just love them, man."
When he was homeless walking around Burlington as a high school freshman, Millner always pictured better times were coming. Those better times are here.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Basketball
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