Deland McCullough II turned down the University of Southern California.
He rejected Kentucky, dismissed Indiana and refused Rutgers.
Practically drowning in big-time, Division I football scholarship offers, McCullough II said, “no, thanks,” to every single pigskin powerhouse that pursued him.
Instead, he chose Miami University, tapping into a decade-old dream and continuing the legacy of his father, Deland McCullough, and his grandfather, Sherman Smith — both of whom played collegiate football in Oxford.
“You’ve got to deal with the glamor of USC and all those schools like that,” McCullough II said. “You’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, [this is great].