I watched Lansing Sexton stand out running back Onaje Miller play close to 10 times in high school. I've talked to him personally 3 or 4 times. I took a lot of heat on our radio show last fall when I said that he would never run at MSU (High school football fans in the area think the football and all players here are great. They are dead wrong.). MSU released Miller from his letter of intent back in June. Over the weekend, Miller solidified the fact that he will never play at MSU or any other major program.
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Miller was arrested and charged with carrying a concealed weapon and with a minor in possession. He was in a car that was involved in a shooting on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. He has a hearing set for Monday.
Miller was a decent high school running back playing against less than stellar competition at Lansing Sexton. He is very quick with great lateral moves. The reason why I said he would never run at MSU is because he runs weak. I'll put it this way: as a senior after an All-State junior year it took him three tries to score from the 1-yard line. And his offensive line was good. He needed a very wide hole to be able to run in high school. He would consistently run into the line and simply stop.
Onaje Miller was a very good safety and an amazing returner. Teams would rather take the penalty kicking out of bounds than send it to Miller. Going back to his running style, when he got in space, like on a punt return, he was electric. As a safety he routinely played in the box. He also had the speed to go back into coverage. He was a menace in the running game and was actually a good blitzer off the edge.
Some recruiting sites smartly listed Miller as an athlete (Rivals 3-star ATH) not as a running back (Scout 4-star RB). I believe he would have been a safety and kick/punt returner for the Spartans. The problem is that Miller actually told me on-air that he "hates playing defense." I believe that was after a playoff game his junior year when he had a great game at safety. If a high school two-way recruit openly says he hates playing defense it raises red flags. That forced me to look at him as purely a running back, and in turn realize he wasn't Big Ten material.
The bigger problem for MSU was Miller's academics. I learned from a Lansing Sexton teacher that Miller was not close to being academically eligible to play at MSU. He had to send weekly progress reports to Coach Dantonio. Once I heard that I knew he didn't stand a chance to make it at MSU. The other recruit who has academic issues...new commit Aaron Burbridge (4-Star WR from Farmington Hills Harrison). I haven't seen Burbridge play yet but he is first on my list for high school games this fall.
Get excited, everybody. MSU Fall practice starts Sunday with media day on Monday! I will be there covering it all for you.
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