Florida women's hoops lands elite transfer guard Kiyomi McMiller

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — New Florida women’s basketball coach Tammi Reiss offered a scholarship to Kiyomi McMiller when she was in fifth grade. Almost a decade later, McMiller is taking her up on it.

The elite transfer guard from Penn State has signed with UF, McMiller tells Gators Online. She committed to the Gators last week and took her official visit to Gainesville from Thursday to Saturday.

“I’m really excited,” McMiller, one of the top scorers in the country, said of her decision. “I’m ready to have a new start and just really show what I can do and put the world on notice.”

McMiller ranked No. 12 nationally in points per game last season, averaging 21.6 points as a sophomore along with 5.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.8 steals. The former five-star recruit is No. 17 in ESPN’s women’s basketball transfer rankings.

McMiller was on a tear at the end of the 2025-26 season. She scored 30-plus points in six straight games and led the Nittany Lions to three wins in a row, including an 85-82 victory over USC when she dropped a career-high 40 points.

She is a massive addition for Reiss and her coaching staff, which has overhauled Florida’s roster with nine additions so far. McMiller is the biggest one yet, giving the Gators a dynamic ball handler and scorer who shoots 35.3% from 3.

McMiller will help replace the production lost from first-team All-SEC selection Liv McGill, who transferred to Oklahoma State. McGill set Florida’s single-season records for points (697) and PPG (22.5), which ranked No. 11 nationally.

McMiller, who averaged 18.7 points as a freshman at Rutgers, left Penn State following the coaching change. Once UF hired Reiss after she led Rhode Island to its first tournament appearance in 30 years, McMiller knew where she was headed.

“Seeing Coach Reiss get the opportunity to coach at a school like Florida, I was really proud and just happy for her. And it really was exciting for me,” McMiller said. “As soon as she called, that’s the place I wanted to go.”

Kiyomi McMiller has history with Florida’s staff

Reiss first crossed paths with McMiller in 2016 when she was going into fifth grade. Reiss was an assistant coach at Syracuse under Quinten Hillsman and McMiller was attending the Elite Camp in the Carrier Dome after just turning 10 years old.

Reiss would have a late birthday present for her.

The campers were split up into two groups. Division 1 was grades 9-12. Division 2 was grades 6-8. McMiller, still in elementary school, competed against high schoolers in the Elite Camp. And McMiller didn’t just hang — she impressed Reiss.

“All the girls were way older than me,” McMiller recalled. “Coach Reiss came up and spoke to me about how I was holding my own and conducting myself and how I understood the game. It just wasn’t normal for someone that my age to be able to do that.”

After the Elite Camp, Reiss and Hillsman offered 10-year-old McMiller a scholarship to Syracuse. They weren’t the first — she already had one offer — and wouldn’t be the last. McMiller received offers from more than 40 schools as she became a five-star recruit and the No. 27 overall prospect in the ESPN rankings for the Class of 2024.

In 2023, McMiller became the first high school athlete to sign an NIL deal with Jordan Brand. Apparently, MJ — who watches and signs off on all brand athletes — saw what Reiss did as well. McMiller became too big of a recruit for Rhode Island, but Reiss continued to stay in contact with her over the years as she the led the Rams to a 138-73 record.

“She would give advice over the time, just little things that helped me improve my game. So just having that connection and that relationship really played a big part in my career,” McMiller said of Reiss. “Seeing her again on my visit, having her be able to tell me what the plan was and just finally getting to be coached by her is really exciting for me.”

During her official visit last week, McMiller reunited with one of Florida’s assistants as well. The new Gators signee has history with UF associate head coach Shay Robinson, who has known her dating back to elementary school.

“Coach Shay is a coach that I’ve known since third grade,” McMiller said. “He was another person that over time was giving me little things along the way to help me improve my game and keep encouraging me. So, that was someone else that I wanted to play for, just needed the right school and a good fit for me.”

That school — and fit — was Florida. McMiller sought a fresh start after losing her coach at Penn State. Playing for Reiss and Robinson, with the Gators and in the SEC provided the opportunity McMiller was looking for.

She made the trip to Gainesville with her parents, Mike and Ravilia McMiller, and her business manager, Leonard Ellerbe, who worked Floyd Mayweather Jr. for two decades. McMiller is looking forward to her next chapter.

“This is a long time coming. Honestly, that’s how it felt. It’s just amazing that this came full circle, where it ended up being that I got to play for both of them at UF,” McMiller said of Reiss and Robinson. “I really enjoyed seeing the campus and seeing the coaches I haven’t seen in a while or meeting others for the first time.

“I can’t wait to get to work. Everyone thinks that the SEC is one of the better conferences, so this will give me more of a platform to showcase what I can really do. And that’s what I’m really looking to do this year. And with Coach Tammi behind me and encouraging me, I think I could really do that.”

In addition to McMiller, Florida has also signed transfer forwards Vivian Iwuchukwu (USC) and Aurora Almón (Syracuse) and Mallory Miller (Butler), transfer guards Moriah Murray (Penn State), Jordan Jones (Arizona State), Taliyah Parker (TCU) and Vanessa Harris (Rhode Island) and incoming freshman Bailey Harris. UF returns senior forward Jade Weathersby.