Nova Southeastern alumnus Miles Mikolas is one of three classmates from the 2009 Sharks baseball team to reach baseball’s highest level. Although his family moved to New York shortly after his birth, the draw of South Florida wouldn’t allow the family to stay away for long, and they returned to his birthplace in Jupiter – the Spring Training home of the St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins. Growing up, Miles played a different sport every season, but by high school he had settled on baseball as the priority, cementing a big future for Miles in the sport. He had two baseball scholarship offers — one from Flagler College in St. Augustine, and the other from Nova Southeastern University (NSU). When he graduated, NSU proved the perfect fit—for the school itself, the close proximity to home, and the South Florida weather.
Miles earned immediate entry into the Sharks pitching rotation and finished his career with a 15-8 record in 38 appearances. Following his stellar 2009 junior season at NSU that produced a 7-2 record and a 2.06 Earned Run Average, Miles became the highest-drafted Shark to date, selected in the seventh round of the MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres. He made his MLB debut in 2012. His career took him from California to Texas, to play for the Texas Rangers; and then to Japan, where he produced a 31-13 record and 2.18 ERA for the Yomiuri Giants. He returned stateside with the experience to take the next step. In 2018, Miles joined the St. Louis Cardinals and was named an All-Star after leading the National League in wins that season. In 2019, he was the Opening Day starter for the Cardinals and ended the year as the series-opening starter in both the National League Championship Series and Divisional Series for St. Louis.
“I’m one of the very fortunate people being an athlete," Miles said. "Being able to give back was important to me—Nova Southeastern University took a chance on me and had my back. I’m extremely grateful for that.”
Miles gratefully recalls NSU’s support while he was working his way through the minor league system and trying to finish his degree. Years later, he has generously given back, joining the Fellows Society through an endowment to the athletic fund. He hopes to help the baseball program in further improving its facilities—funding a new batting cage or clubhouse.
“The facility they have is great, and I’d like to help it be as good as possible,” he said.
Miles noted that NSU is in the hub of South Florida, an area that is constantly growing and improving. He has even thought about returning to NSU in the future, because of the university’s top-notch programs in fields like oceanography and law. “It depends on what life after baseball looks like,” he added.
“There’s so much going on at the school and there are so many different ways to be a part of it in a huge way or a small way — whether it’s one brick or one building,” said Miles. A father of three young children, Miles added that he hopes to be able to show his children where he left his mark in the future.
“NSU has gotten bigger and bigger. It will be here for generations and years and years to come,” he said. “So why not lay a little concrete and help out the university? If you can do something, it’s going to be there for a long time.”
