Miller talks Cincinnati, Illinois offers

Toledo (Ohio) St. John's defensive end Matt Miller flew down to San Antonio for the U.S. Army Junior Combine last week. While there he picked up his second scholarship offer from a BCS program.

"When I got back to my hotel room after we finished at the Army Strong Zone, my head coach texted me and said that Cincinnati had stopped by my school earlier and had offered me," Miller reported. "Obviously that was good news coming back from the combine. I had talked to them before and kept in touch with Coach Stripling, so I had a feeling there was a pretty high interest there."

The 6-5, 250-pound Miller received his first BCS offer in December from Illinois head coach Tim Beckman, who had previously offered Miller when he was head coach at Toledo.

"Obviously the first couple weeks were very busy for Coach Beckman, but my head coach kind of had a hunch that offer would carry over," Miller said. "The day before Christmas Eve I talked with Coach Beckman and he said [the offer] would be coming from Illinois. Obviously that was a nice start and a big offer."

Miller and his family have a long-standing relationship with Beckman and his staff, going back to when his brother, Jack, was recruited by the Rockets in the 2011 class.

"When Coach Beckman first went over there, I wasn't surprised at all," Miller said. "I think Coach Beckman is a great coach and a great guy as well. I remember my brother was saying that when he was being recruited by him."

With two offers in hand, Miller continues to be active with his recruitment and looks to check out several schools this winter.

"I talked to Ohio State and Michigan State about junior days, and I will try to schedule those junior days as soon as I can," he said. "I will probably head up to Michigan as well and we'll see where else I'll head off to. It kind of depends on how my relationship keeps developing with these coaches."

Miller was one of more than 500 prospects invited last week's Army Junior Combine. He enjoyed his time in Texas and took several points away from competing with the nation's top prospects.

"The whole week was a really cool experience," Miller said. "I thought I did really well and thought I stacked up well against hundreds of the best in the country. It was really nice to compete with those guys, hang out with them and get a chance to meet some of those guys."