Miller taking game to Big East
The spring was certainly going to be big and busy from a recruiting standpoint for class of 2009 wing Dane Miller. One Big East school wanted him now and not later.
Miller, a 6-foot-5, 180-pound forward from Rush Henrietta High School in Rochester, N.Y., verbally committed to Rutgers on Thursday night, according to Mickey Walker, Miller's AAU coach with the Donyell Marshall Foundation team.
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"I think a lot of people thought that they could wait but he obviously had different intentions," Walker said. "I'm sure that (face time) was a factor. He has a great level of comfort with (assistant coach) Jim Carr and Fred Hill particularly. Dane had been down there before. It was a good fit."
Miller, a four-star prospect, is averaging 20.5 points, 18 rebounds, five assists and four blocks a game this year as a junior. He is the first player to commit to Rutgers in the class of 2009.
For Rutgers, landing Miller should prove to be a coup. He's an active and versatile forward with good springs, nice skills inside and out and possesses good court awareness. Miller has the ability to play multiple positions at the next level.
"One of the things about him that sticks out to me is that he is a very hard match-up. Dane is almost impossible match-up because you can't really put a 6-8 guy on him because he handles the ball and passes so well. He can go by those guys and create shots.
"But at the same token, you can't put a quick 6-4 guy on him because he is pretty good on the block. He has a good repertoire of moves. He's not what you would call a pure post pure but he's pretty efficient. He's hard to decide on who you want to cover him.
"He's had a couple games this year in high school where he's had 10 assists. Sometimes in upstate New York, it is hard to get 10 assists in a lay-up line. That's the kind of player and passer he is."
Miller also considered St. John's, Pittsburgh, Marquette, St. Bonaventure, Providence and DePaul.
"I like the way coach Hill coaches all his players, they want a lot from them," Miller told the Star-Ledger. "That's one thing, and they run a lot, they work hard, they make the players better. I went down there and I felt comfortable."