Saint Mary's Athletics is heartbroken to learn of the passing of former center from the Men's Basketball team, Brad Millard, announced by his sister via social media on Saturday, September 24. He was 45 years of age.
 
"For the last 20 years my brother has struggled with pain and chronic illness caused by complications from repeated foot injuries, open wounds, infection and blood disorders," Sarah Gould-Millard, sister to Brad, said on Facebook. "You also may not know is that he had a heart of gold and he was a fighter! Though he didn't have much, he would give the shirt off his back to help others."
 
"His fight was tremendous but in the end his body finally had enough and the infection won. Our hearts are broken."
 
Millard was nicknamed "Big Continent" for his seemingly larger-than-life presence on the basketball court. Millard stood at 7-3 and weighed 345 pounds, making him one of the largest players in college basketball. He was a member of the men's basketball team at Saint Mary's from 1995-2000, playing a vital role in the Gaels' 1997 NCAA Tournament team, just the third time in program history SMC made the tournament.
 
He broke onto the scene during the 1996-97 season, when he started 30 games for Saint Mary's and was named First Team All-West Coast Conference as a sophomore. Millard averaged 12.4 points per game and grabbed 7.6 rebounds per game, and finished the season winning the WCC Tournament Most Valuable Player Award as Saint Mary's won their first WCC Tournament title.
 
During that postseason run, which saw the Gaels take on Wake Forest and future NBA Hall of Famer Tim Duncan, Millard drew a lot of attention for his play against Duncan. He scored 16 points and added six rebounds and two blocks in defeat. Despite the loss, he drew praise from Wake Forest Head Coach Dave Odom: "He's a lottery pick.  Get him out of here. I'd say he surprised me how good he is. We had to get a feel for him, because he doesn't have the history. He is very, very, very good."
 
Injuries derailed the remainder of Millard's Saint Mary's tenure, as he played in just five games during the next two seasons. He returned to play 11 games in his redshirt senior season, including a game against Colorado that saw him block a program-record nine shots on November 19, 1999.
 
When Millard's career concluded, he finished with a field goal percentage of 52.7%, 642 points (9.7 per game), and 153 blocked shots, which was at the time the most in Saint Mary's history (actively third most, including the most blocks per game at 2.32). He is still one of four Gaels all-time to win the WCC Tournament MVP award. In 2007, Millard was ranked 13^th by Saint Mary's Athletics on the All-Century Men's Basketball team.