Mitchell Miller, the former NHL draft pick whom the Arizona Coyotes renounced the rights to after news emerged he had assaulted, bullied and abused a Black classmate with a learning disability, was voted the USHL player of the year and defenceman of the year for the 2021-22 season by the league's general managers.
Miller's current team, the Tri-City Storm, made the announcement on Tuesday, sparking significant backlash online.
Miller, 20, was charged with assault and a violation of the Ohio Safe Schools Act in February of 2016 after he and another student admitted to bullying Isaiah Meyer-Crothers, a Black classmate with a learning disability. Part of that bullying included wiping a piece of candy in a urinal and then tricking Meyer-Crothers into consuming it.
In 2020, Meyer-Crothers told the Arizona Republic that Miller had taunted him for years growing up and called him names like "brownie" and used the "N-word" while repeatedly hitting him. He said it "hurt my heart" when he saw the news that Miller had been drafted by the Coyotes in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, where he was taken 111th overall.
After the news came out in October of 2020, the Coyotes renounced the rights to Miller, who was their top draft pick that summer. A day later, the University of North Dakota dropped Miller from its program. He did not play hockey during the 2020-21 season.
Eventually the native of Sylvania, Ohio, returned to the Tri-City Storm, where he'd played prior to being drafted. This past season, Miller finished third in league scoring and top among defencemen, with 39 goals and 83 points in 60 games. He also had 75 penalty minutes.
The USHL's announcement stated: "League awards are voted on by each Member Club’s General Manager after each Club nominates their players for awards."
When the Storm offered Miller a spot on the team last August, it stated: "We know Mitchell very well and we are convinced what happened when he was 14 isn’t indicative of his character or who he is now as a 19-year-old young man." The Storm added that Mitchell had been actively involved in community service initiatives that support anti-bullying efforts, special needs children, disabled athletes, the homeless and the elderly.
At that time, Joni Meyer-Crothers, Isaiah's mother, told The Athletic that they still had not received an apology from Miller, five years after the bullying took place.
