Whenever a player has a sore ankle or elbow and starts to complain during a practice, all Beaver Falls High School boys' basketball coach Doug Biega has to do is point to Nick Miller.

"Nick is my example now," Biega said. "He fell 40 feet onto railroad tracks. Come on ... get up."

It's true -- he did fall 40 feet and Miller's story is one of determination.

He is a 5-foot-10 senior guard for the Tigers and a letterman. But there was a time late this summer when it looked as if his basketball playing days, at least for this season, were over.

While on a training run with the school's cross country team he jumped over a concrete barrier on the New Brighton side of the Route 18 bridge that connects the towns. He thought there was a grassy spot in which to land.

He ended up tumbling 40 feet onto the concrete pavement beside the railroad tracks.

Miller was rushed to Allegheny General Hospital with various injuries, including a concussion, a broke jaw and fractures in bones in his right wrist, right hip and left knee. That was Aug. 14.

He spent 14 days in the hospital and was in a wheelchair when he finally got out. He had a pin in his wrist and plates in his repaired jaw.

Most individuals would be worried about just walking without a limp. Miller was worried about being ready for the start of the basketball season and being able to drive the lane.

Biega figured Miller might be able to join the team in February, in time for the WPIAL playoffs. Miller had a different timetable.

"We texted each other a lot," Biega said. "He told me he'd be cleared to play and wouldn't miss any time. I thought that was wishful thinking."

To label Miller as a tough kid wouldn't be accurate. As Biega pointed out, Miller is a playmaker and 3-point shooter for the Tigers. He's scrappy, but never sets bone-crushing picks or shoves someone out of the way in order to grab a rebound.

On the court he looks like, well, a cross country runner. But looks can be deceiving and it wouldn't be wrong to now call Miller "a tough guy."

"The other players appreciate what he's gone through," Biega said.

While heeling and still in a wheelchair, Miller kept his shooting touch by taking about 50 shots a day at the hoop in his backyard. His mother, Jennifer, was his rebounder.

"I wasn't in the wheelchair very long, maybe a couple of weeks," Miller said. "My goal for this year was to get back and play basketball.

"There were some doubts, but I just kept fighting. When I was in a hospital bed, I couldn't do anything. I didn't want to get depressed, so I just kept in my head that I was going to play. At first they said I might be back by January."

Of his 50 shots, Miller would count the final 10, seeing how many of those he could make.

"After a while, I started to make seven [of them], then eight, then nine," he said. "I had to wear a strap on my right [non-shooting] wrist so it wouldn't bend."

After being cleared by his doctor, Miller walked into practice the week before Beaver Falls played Jeannette in a WPIAL football semifinal Nov. 14.

"He showed up at an open gym and had a doctor's note that said Nick Miller was cleared to play with no restrictions other than a knee brace, and I'm thinking, 'Well, maybe he's telling me the truth [about being ready for the season]," Biega said. "Then I saw him play and it was like, 'Wow!'"

Miller wears a brace on his left knee because he injured the meniscus in that joint and had to have it repaired. He is hoping to be able to discard the brace before long.

He played in Beaver Falls' first game of the season. Miller isn't a starter, but is one of the first players off the bench for the Tigers and logs a lot of minutes. Other than the scars, he's no different than any player.

He did limp some in a home victory against Sto-Rox, but not because of injuries suffered in the fall.

"I banged knees with somebody out there," he said with a smile. "It was my good knee that hurt."

Maybe he did it while diving for a loose ball or going after a rebound.

Miller doesn't shy away from contact.

Because of his injuries, there was talk of Miller sitting out the school year and doing his senior year in 2009-10. He wanted no part of that.

"These are my friends, the guys I've been playing basketball with since seventh grade," he said in the team's locker room. "No way did I want that."

"He didn't want [to be] redshirted," Biega said.

Miller doesn't see his situation as a miraculous happening. But said it has given him a much greater appreciation for the game.

"Usually people take it for granted," he said of playing basketball. "This was my last shot, my senior year and I didn't want to miss it."

"I'm really, really happy for Nick and his mom and dad and sister. They really worked hard to get him ready," Biega said. "It's a feel-good story."

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NOTES -- Beaver Falls will play host to Blackhawk at 7 p.m. Monday in its hoops festival and entertain General McLane at noon Dec. 31. Blackhawk will play General McLane at 7 p.m. Tuesday. ... The Penn State Beaver tournament is Friday, Saturday and Tuesday. Beaver, New Brighton, Quaker Valley, Western Beaver, Rochester and South Side Beaver are in the field.