Please patronize our advertisers to help
keep theOzone.net free for everyone.

The-Ozone.net Mall

Interesting, Fun companies with interesting, quality products - and the-Ozone gets a piece of the action!

Footbball
Miller Ends the Suspense, Picks the Buckeyes
By Tony Gerdeman

Braxton Miller, one of the most sought after quarterbacks in the 2011 recruiting class, held a Thursday afternoon press conference to announce that he was verbally committing to play football at The Ohio State University.

Miller, seated at a table on the stage of the Wayne High School auditorium and flanked by his parents, had a quintet of hats at arm's length, signifying the final five schools vying for his services.

Lined up in a row were ball caps from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Notre Dame and Ohio State.

After making a brief statement, Miller stood up to make his final decision. He discarded the Notre Dame, Georgia and Alabama hats. All that were left were Gators and Buckeyes. Miller then picked up the Ohio State cap and placed it on his head, a symbol of his final decision. Those seated throughout the auditorium erupted in applause, clearly happy with his choice to become an Ohio State Buckeye.

With scholarship offers to 40 different schools, Miller literally could have gone anywhere he wanted. But Ohio State felt like home to him, and he didn't want to wait any longer.

“I just wanted to get it out of the way and get it off my chest and get the pressure out of the way,” he said. “The recruiting process was really nice, but I just wanted to settle down and be committed to my school.”

“I wanted to play football without worrying about college, but it came to the point where I had to do the research, and Ohio State came through on top, so I just wanted to get the commitment out of the way.”

“It just reminded me of my hometown. And it all fits my comfort and I'd just like to be there and be a part of that team. I liked them a lot.”

In fact, not only did he not want to wait any longer to announce, but he's also not planning on waiting long to enroll. He's currently planning on graduating in the winter and enrolling at Ohio State in January.

After bursting onto the football scene as a freshman at Wayne, and then getting a scholarship offer from Ohio State as a sophomore, the hype surrounding Braxton Miller has almost reached Terrelle Pryor-like levels.

And according to Miller's head coach, Jay Minton, there's good reason.

“I don't think there is a weakness,” he said, breaking down Miller's game.

“He's got a great arm. He's continuously making better decisions out there on the field.

"He's just so athletic. That's the thing that he wants to transition into, where people look at him as a quarterback and not so much as an 'athletic guy', because that doesn't get you anywhere in his future.

"He really wants to be at quarterback and be able to distribute the ball, and do what he can to run an offense.”

Miller, who has been timed at 4.47 in the forty-yard dash, knows he is viewed as a dual-threat quarterback, but sees himself as a passer first. And even though people might want to compare Braxton Miller to Terrelle Pryor, he sees himself more in the mold of Heisman winner Troy Smith.

“I just watched Troy Smith, because what they did with him I really liked. My arm has got strength and I can do damage with that, and also my legs. I can do a lot of damage.”

Even though his college future is now known, complacency will not set in. He still has things that he wants to improve upon.

“I want to look off defenses, because that's the biggest thing that Coach Tressel talks about,” he said.

“Even my defensive coach, because he played against Troy Smith back in the day, he said he kept looking off the defense, so that's what I want to work on this year. I want to be great at it.”

That desire to be great has definitely impressed Coach Minton. But it's not just becoming a great player that is important at Wayne.

“I think if you look at his tape and things like that, you're going to see a lot of excitement. I think you'll see a lot of what people refer to as 'upside'.

"He's just going to keep getting better and better and better. You're not seeing a guy that's maxed out. I think he's going to be even a better quarterback when he leaves us. Braxton is just such a competitor. He's a great young man to be around. I think a lot of people that know him and see him, the athleticism catches you're eye, but then when you get to know him, you get to see the real person.”

According to Minton, it wasn't just Miller's football ability that drew Ohio State to him, and him to Ohio State.

“What really intrigued him about Ohio State the most was that they didn't talk about how great a player he was going to be when he graduated from Ohio State, but how great of a person he was going to be. And that was the over-the-top point.”

Related Story - Miller's Commitment will Impact the Buckeyes in many ways.

Donate by Check :

Ozone Communications
1380 King Avenue
Columbus, Ohio

Help us bring you more Buckeye coverage. Donate to the-Ozone.

Click here to email this the-Ozone feature to a friend...or even a foe.

(c) 2010 The O-Zone, O-Zone Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, rebroadcast,rewritten, or redistributed.