Virginia OL Josh Miller recaps PSU visit, set for Nov. 2 announcement
Penn State hosted Virginia offensive lineman Joshua Miller for an unofficial visit Saturday, and it could prove to be a critical moment in his recruitment.
Earlier this month, Miller informed the media that he’s planning some sort of an announcement for Nov. 2, his father’s birthday. What exactly he’ll be announcing though has been kept under wraps. He’s said publicly that he could end up being a commitment or potentially just his top schools. Even with about a week to go, Miller isn’t opening up in regards to what he plans to tell the world, although he did say that he knows what he wants to do.
“The coaches know what’s going down on November 2nd,” Miller said. “We all see eye-to-eye on that. It’s going to be a big moment for me.”
If he does announce a commitment, many believe that it’ll come down to either Clemson or Penn State. That why getting him on campus this past weekend, despite the result, was so important for the James Franklin and his staff.
“Pulling up, seeing everyone tailgating, they were just everywhere. There was nowhere to park.” Miller said. “Every spot close to the stadium was packed. The walk then, when all the players came in, that was fun. All the fans were going crazy. Everyone was screaming, 'We are Penn State.' Just that whole environment was amazing.”
Miller, who plays for Life Christian Academy, picked up an offer from the Nittany Lions back in March 2020. His recruitment was kickstarted by regional recruiter Ja’Juan Seider, and since then, offensive line coach Phil Trautwein has played a major role as well. He said he speaks with at least one of them every few days.
“With their coaches, we talk about football, but honestly, I feel like I'm just talking to one of my friends,” Miller said. “We just chop it up, just talking about life and stuff. Most of the time it's just us checking up on each other and stuff like that. That's really how it was [Saturday].”
Over the past two years, Miller has earned 16 verbal scholarship offers. Back in July, he announced a top 12 and has taken visits to Penn State, Ohio State, Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. Clemson has also hosted him twice. He attended a camp in June, which is a big reason why he earned an offer in the beginning of September. He also attended a game at Clemson this season.
With just over a week to go, Penn State has done pretty much all it can at this point. He visited twice this past summer, making this past weekend’s visit his third trip overall.
“They've always been good to me and kept it real,” Miller said, referring to Penn State. “Everybody up there is family. It's just good vibes all around. The program is trending uphill. The two losses they have, it's not like they've been getting blown out the water. They fight and keep going uphill every week so everything looks good, it feels good. It just feels natural, everything up there. Nothing feels forced."
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