College athletes entering the transfer portal isn’t something out of the ordinary in 2023. No matter the reason, it’s a difficult yet common decision aspiring professional athletes make to switch schools in order to enhance their chances of fulfilling their dreams.
Many of them do so to increase their playing time, be closer to home, or the reality didn’t match the expectations of the school they initially enrolled in, just to name a few reasons.
But for Jansen Miller, a change in the coaching staff was enough for him to leave Xavier after just two seasons.
“I decided to transfer from Xavier because (head coach) Mike Fleming was leaving,” Miller said. “I didn’t want to take a chance at a rebuild, so I entered the portal.”
Miller was the only one who left Xavier after the coaching change was announced, despite starting in 26 of the 27 matches he appeared in during his time with the Musketeers.
Although Miller got the adequate playing time needed as an underclassman, the team didn’t perform very well during the time Miller was there, going 12-14-2 in the spring and fall of 2021 combined, winning just three Big East matches.
Once schools started to reach out to the Missouri native who lived in a suburb of St. Louis, it started to become clear which school was the best for the defender.
Miller, like many, started out playing multiple sports. His three were soccer, basketball and baseball.
“Soccer was the one I really excelled at,” Miller said. “When I was younger I was scoring like seven, eight goals a game…I’m gonna stick with this.”
Another big reason why soccer turned out to be Miller’s sport was because his mother, Trisha, played goalkeeper at Quincy University. His parents wanted to push him to play soccer and it was clear that Jansen was good enough to play at an advanced youth level. But there was one roadblock.
“I was gonna go to a club team, but it was super expensive,” Miller said. “So my parents were like, ‘Oh, we’ll just keep him on these lower level teams.’”
But there was someone who knew that a club team was the best thing for him, and decided to chip in.
“My grandma was like, ‘No, no, let's get him on that team,’” Miller said. “So she actually paid for my first couple years of club when I was like, seven, eight years old.”
From there, everything took off. Miller rapidly moved up the ranks to the pre-academy teams and he got so good to the point where he was playing up a division.
It turned out that Daniel Munie was playing in that division. Yes, the two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year who had an incredible career at Indiana.
“It’s funny. We have the same birthday just two years apart,” Miller said. “I actually started over him in a (U-16) game.”
Little did Miller and Munie know they would be playing with one another years later in Bloomington. Munie was one of Miller’s mentors, showing him the ropes of the center-back position. Miller admitted he wasn’t necessarily ready to play, but got more comfortable after he watched Munie excel in that position.
But once Munie went down with an injury, it was Miller’s time to shine and it led to his favorite individual memory in his collegiate career: scoring the game-tying goal against Butler in a comeback victory last year.
Munie wasn’t the only IU connection Miller had. Joey Maher, Lawson Redmon, Lukas Hummell and Indiana assistant coach Kevin Robson are all from the same area.
“All the guys here I played club with,” Miller said.
Plus, Robson’s brother, Michael, played and coached at Saint Louis, so there was already a connection there given Miller’s background.
“So when he called we already, like, kind of knew each other,” Miller said.
Even with those two strong connections, Miller was the closest with Maher growing up. Jansen has known Joey since he was 14 years old.
“We’ve been very close,” Miller said. “(Joey) is the same person that he was. We played right next to each other for three years (at the academy level).”
The two got to start again right next to each other a few weeks ago against Wisconsin, keeping a clean sheet in the conference opener.
It had been several years since the two started on the same backline, but according to Miller, it was just like old times’ sake.
“It felt like no time had passed…it just felt so natural,” Miller said.
The two probably thought they would never play with each other again after the academy phase, but even after playing against one another in the fall of 2021, they were reunited once again.
Miller may have been the only Musketeer to leave after that fall season, but he wasn’t the only Xavier player to transfer two and a half hours west and wind up in Bloomington. Karsen Henderlong transferred to Indiana after three seasons in Cincinnati, someone whom Miller viewed as an older brother.
“He's another reason why I came here, he was one of my best friends at Xavier,” Miller said.
Just like any relationship between siblings, there were times when Miller and Henderlong didn’t get along.
“We played against each other growing up in academy and we actually hated each other,” Miller said. “He scored a hat trick on me and Joey (Maher).”
But, like most brothers, they resolved their issues, even though there are times when they tease one another about that match. However, it’s clear that Henderlong’s impact on Miller’s career has gone a long way.
“He's helped me a lot, I always tell him in practice,” Miller said. “I hate going up against him because we played against each other so much that he just knows how to play against me.”
While Miller’s connections with people he trusted are the reason why he is currently at Indiana, he attributes his improvement from last season to this season to head coach Todd Yeagley.
“He’s been very, very hard on me and I appreciate that because just from last year to this year, I lost 20 pounds,” Miller said.
Yeagley was honest with him in the spring and let Jansen know about the potential he saw in him, probing Miller to work hard over the summer.
“He’s not a coach that will lie to you,” Miller said. “He will tell you how it is.”
After working on his fitness and confidence this summer, Miller has been rewarded, starting in four of the past five matches for one of college soccer’s most successful programs. Even though Indiana has struggled this year with a 3-3-4 record through 10 matches, Miller’s increased role could lead Indiana to a big victory that could kickstart the second half of the season. The Hoosiers could get that win on Saturday at No. 19 Penn State, who currently sit tied atop the Big Ten standings.
While Miller knows what it’s like to watch on the bench and the work that goes into earning a spot in the starting XI, he’s not sure what his future looks like. Miller has another year of eligibility left and like most if not all members of the Indiana men’s soccer team, hopes to make it to the pros.
What we do know is that Miller’s relationship with current and former Hoosiers is the reason why is at Indiana and playing a major role as Indiana makes a push to return to the postseason.
