T H E C L A S S O F 2 0 1 5
WHAT
HE DID
As a junior at Frankford High, Miller accu-
mulated 70 tackles and 17 sacks. He later transferred to
George Washington for academic reasons and continued to
dominate the Philadelphia Public League as a senior, racking
up 19 sacks and 14 tackles for loss. Miller also played in the
Oer his commitment to the Nit-
tany Lions. Miller also made uno=cial visits to West Virginia
and Temple last summer.
QUOTABLE Miller: "We all believe in the future and how
bright the future is. ... We've got some of the top players in
the country in this class, so we're ready to just dominate and
show everybody that Penn State is back."
FRANKLIN SAYS "He's 6-foot-5 and a skinny 230 pounds.
You see him and he looks like a lean 210 pounds. ... Once he's
on campus he could be 255 to 260 pounds. Tremendous ath-
leticism."
PHIL'S TAKE With Brad Bars and C.J. Olaniyan graduating
and Deion Barnes choosing to enter the NFL Draft a year
early, Penn State needed to recruit at least three defensive
ends in this class. Kamonte Carter and Ryan Buchholz are
expected to line up at the strongside defensive end posi-
tion, while Miller will fit in at the weakside spot. He is ful-
ly capable of playing that position in a 4-3 defensive
scheme. In fact, he appears to have enough athletic ability
to play the Sam outside linebacker position. Miller needs
to develop upper- and lower-body strength to have a
chance of playing this fall as a true freshman. I think it's
more likely he will be redshirted this year.
SHAREEF
MILLER
RIVALS ★★★
POS
DE HT 6-5 WT 230
HOME Philadelphia, Pa.
SCHOOL
George Washington
Perseverance
pays o for Miller
U P C L O S E & P E R S O N A L
|
T
he late-October sun was just setting on northeast
Philadelphia. A sophomore in high school, Shareef
Miller was walking home from football practice on the
same streets that he always had, the same way that he al-
ways had.
His head was down, headphones in each ear. He was al-
most home when he felt a powerful blow to the back of his
head, knocking him to the ground.
"It happened so fast," Miller recalled recently. "I think he
had a gun or something. He hit me in the head and I fell
down. He took my phone and
took my stu<.
Then he ran o<.
I was shocked
and scared at
the same time."
Miller was
only 15 years
old. He had just been robbed
by someone he was never able
to identify. As if there hadn't
been enough already, the inci-
dent was another reminder of
the dangers that lurk in his
neighborhood.
"I was really mad and I
wanted to ;nd the person who
did it, but at the end of the
day, I just realized it wasn't
worth it," Miller continued. "I
just kept it moving and [be-
came] more aware. I just said
to myself, I want to try to make it out some way – some
kind of way to not have to keep worrying about walking
down the street and getting robbed or getting shot."
He's on track to do that now.
Along with his mother, Tekeya Cooks, Miller credits a
former coach, whom he calls a "mentor," Rasheed Muham-
mad, for guiding him to this stage of his career – which in-
cludes a full scholarship to Penn State. Muhammad has
seen Miller suer setback, yet ;ght through.
END GAME Miller
expects to play
defensive end at
PSU.
Photo cour-
tesy of Rivals.com
