Among a crowded and talented group of prospects who participated in the morning workout of the Dabo Swinney Football Camp Wednesday at Clemson was one player who’s been raised in a household of garnet. Spring Valley High linebacker Christian Miller, the son of former University of South Carolina Gamecock and New York Giants linebacker Corey Miller, visited the Clemson campus for the first time, and his father told him to be prepared to be impressed.
While Christian warmed up with camp participants, Corey met with Clemson recruiting coordinator Jeff Scott and defensive coordinator Brent Venables. They toured campus and checked out program facilities after the workout ended.
Christian is nearly 6 feet, 4 inches tall and about 200 pounds, an outside linebacker bound for the recruiting class of 2014. He’s drawn interest from Clemson, South Carolina, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, N.C. State and Maryland, among others. The two major in-state programs are leading the way.
“It’s different here, seeing the colors, but I was just telling Coach Scott the thing from a player’s perspective is different than a fan’s,” Corey Miller told TigersNow.com. “I told my son, whatever he loves, I’ve got his back 100 percent. It doesn’t have to be where I went. Sometimes I think it’s easier to not go where your father played, because there’s going to be a measuring bar and there’s going to be a level of expectancy. Sometimes that can be too much pressure for a kid.”
Christian will visit South Carolina for a one-day camp on Thursday, and camps at Florida State and Alabama will follow next month. Corey expects scholarship offers to begin rolling in, and he insists Clemson would have a good chance to land Christian if the Tigers offer.
“He’s impressed with Coach (Brent) Venables,” Corey said. “When he looks at Clemson, I told him, ‘You’re going to like it. It is a beautiful place.’ I told him that. The staff says, ‘Well, we ain’t got a chance,’ because I went to South Carolina, but you offer this kid, I’m going to tell you – I know one thing with kids, first impressions, that kid always goes back to that. Who was the first person to show him love? Brent has been all over him. He’s done a great job with him. Virginia Tech has come in and all these other schools, but all he talks about is Venables.”
Corey said the South Carolina staff may be taking Christian’s connection to the Gamecocks for granted.
“I think they took the wrong approach,” Corey said. “They haven’t really been that fired up about him like Brent has. For a 15-year-old kid, that makes sense. I told him I’ll put orange on 11 or 12 times a year, counting a bowl. It’s just the last one in the regular season that I couldn’t do it. That one game I couldn’t do it. I’d have to wear a mixed bag or something.”
But Corey said he isn’t pushing the Gamecocks.
“We’re free,” Corey said. “I just believe whatever the Lord has for him, it’ll be for him, and I’ll support him. I have so many friends who played here. I’m not going to sell my son South Carolina. If he asks me, I’ll tell him I had a great time there. They’re a growing program. Steve (Spurrier) has done a great job. But he’s got to decide that for himself. They are two different places. The school, the atmosphere, the conferences, everything is different. In Columbia you’re going to be more in the city. What do you want? You live in Columbia. Do you want to be able to stay and be able to drive home any time you want to, or do you want to kind of just get away a little bit and make your own person. He’s kind of more that attitude. My oldest son would be a stay-at-home kind of a guy, but Christian is a little bit different.”
Corey’s oldest son, Corey Jr., is a 6-foot-4, 230-pound tight end and linebacker bound for prep school in the fall, and he could rejoin the recruiting trail next year.
The college decision for Corey Sr., a native of Pageland, came down to South Carolina and Clemson.
“I grew up in a poor family,” Corey said. “My parents didn’t know nothing. I had coaches showing up at my house and telling me things. I had no clue. I had been to Charlotte, and that was as far as I’d been. But my coach, he played at South Carolina as a linebacker, so I was somewhat brainwashed to go there – camps and all that. But Miles (Aldridge) recruited me when he was here. Danny (Ford), I knew all of them. I came up here a whole lot. It was basically between those two schools. Georgia and all the ACC schools I could have gone to, they offered me, but my parents couldn’t afford to go far, so it was a simple thing.”
link: http://data.greenvilleonline.com/blogs/recruiting/2012/06/13/son-of-former-gamecock-impressed-with-clemson/
While Christian warmed up with camp participants, Corey met with Clemson recruiting coordinator Jeff Scott and defensive coordinator Brent Venables. They toured campus and checked out program facilities after the workout ended.
Christian is nearly 6 feet, 4 inches tall and about 200 pounds, an outside linebacker bound for the recruiting class of 2014. He’s drawn interest from Clemson, South Carolina, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, N.C. State and Maryland, among others. The two major in-state programs are leading the way.
“It’s different here, seeing the colors, but I was just telling Coach Scott the thing from a player’s perspective is different than a fan’s,” Corey Miller told TigersNow.com. “I told my son, whatever he loves, I’ve got his back 100 percent. It doesn’t have to be where I went. Sometimes I think it’s easier to not go where your father played, because there’s going to be a measuring bar and there’s going to be a level of expectancy. Sometimes that can be too much pressure for a kid.”
Christian will visit South Carolina for a one-day camp on Thursday, and camps at Florida State and Alabama will follow next month. Corey expects scholarship offers to begin rolling in, and he insists Clemson would have a good chance to land Christian if the Tigers offer.
“He’s impressed with Coach (Brent) Venables,” Corey said. “When he looks at Clemson, I told him, ‘You’re going to like it. It is a beautiful place.’ I told him that. The staff says, ‘Well, we ain’t got a chance,’ because I went to South Carolina, but you offer this kid, I’m going to tell you – I know one thing with kids, first impressions, that kid always goes back to that. Who was the first person to show him love? Brent has been all over him. He’s done a great job with him. Virginia Tech has come in and all these other schools, but all he talks about is Venables.”
Corey said the South Carolina staff may be taking Christian’s connection to the Gamecocks for granted.
“I think they took the wrong approach,” Corey said. “They haven’t really been that fired up about him like Brent has. For a 15-year-old kid, that makes sense. I told him I’ll put orange on 11 or 12 times a year, counting a bowl. It’s just the last one in the regular season that I couldn’t do it. That one game I couldn’t do it. I’d have to wear a mixed bag or something.”
But Corey said he isn’t pushing the Gamecocks.
“We’re free,” Corey said. “I just believe whatever the Lord has for him, it’ll be for him, and I’ll support him. I have so many friends who played here. I’m not going to sell my son South Carolina. If he asks me, I’ll tell him I had a great time there. They’re a growing program. Steve (Spurrier) has done a great job. But he’s got to decide that for himself. They are two different places. The school, the atmosphere, the conferences, everything is different. In Columbia you’re going to be more in the city. What do you want? You live in Columbia. Do you want to be able to stay and be able to drive home any time you want to, or do you want to kind of just get away a little bit and make your own person. He’s kind of more that attitude. My oldest son would be a stay-at-home kind of a guy, but Christian is a little bit different.”
Corey’s oldest son, Corey Jr., is a 6-foot-4, 230-pound tight end and linebacker bound for prep school in the fall, and he could rejoin the recruiting trail next year.
The college decision for Corey Sr., a native of Pageland, came down to South Carolina and Clemson.
“I grew up in a poor family,” Corey said. “My parents didn’t know nothing. I had coaches showing up at my house and telling me things. I had no clue. I had been to Charlotte, and that was as far as I’d been. But my coach, he played at South Carolina as a linebacker, so I was somewhat brainwashed to go there – camps and all that. But Miles (Aldridge) recruited me when he was here. Danny (Ford), I knew all of them. I came up here a whole lot. It was basically between those two schools. Georgia and all the ACC schools I could have gone to, they offered me, but my parents couldn’t afford to go far, so it was a simple thing.”
link: http://data.greenvilleonline.com/blogs/recruiting/2012/06/13/son-of-former-gamecock-impressed-with-clemson/
