Tom McMillen

Charles Thomas "Tom" McMillen (born May 26, 1952) is a retired NBA professional basketball player, Rhodes Scholar, and Democratic U.S. Congressman, who represented the 4th congressional district of Maryland from January 3, 1987 to January 3, 1993. On March 22, 2011, he was appointed as Chairman of the inaugural Board of Directors of the President's Foundation on Sports, Physical Fitness, and Nutrition. He is also the author of Out of Bounds, a critical look at the unhealthy influence of sports on ethics, and he served on the Knight Foundation's Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics investigating abuses within college sports.
Mcmillen is married to Emergency Room physician, Judith Niemyer MD.

Prior to entering politics, McMillen was a star basketball player on all levels. In 1970, he was the number one high school basketball player in the U.S. coming out of Mansfield, Pennsylvania, and was the biggest recruiting catch early in Coach Lefty Driesell's career at the University of Maryland, beating out rival Coach Dean Smith of the University of North Carolina for McMillen's services. McMillen was also a member of the 1972 U.S. Olympic Basketball Team that lost a controversial gold medal game to the Soviet Union.

McMillen received his B.S. from University of Maryland in chemistry, which is part of the University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences. After graduating from Maryland in 1974, McMillen was drafted in the first round of the 1974 NBA draft by the Buffalo Braves and the first round of the 1974 ABA Draft by the Virginia Squires. McMillen signed with the Braves. During his eleven-year National Basketball Association career, he played for the Braves, New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks, and Washington Bullets, before he retired in 1986 to pursue his political career. McMillen played for a year in Europe before joining the 1975–76 Buffalo Braves.

He was elected to the U.S. Congress as a Democrat to represent Maryland's 4th district, and served 1987–1993 as that district's representative. In 1992, the 4th was redrawn as a black-majority district due to a mandate from the Justice Department. McMillen's home in Crofton was drawn into the Eastern Shore-based 1st District, represented by one-term Republican Congressman Wayne Gilchrest. Although McMillen did very well in the more urbanized areas of the district near Baltimore and Washington, D.C., it was not enough to overcome Gilchrest's margin on the Eastern Shore. McMillen left the House in January 1993.

McMillen is thought to be the tallest-ever member of Congress. At 6 feet 11 inches, he is two feet taller than Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski, who is believed to be the shortest representative ever.