Westlake’s Miller to Become a Trojan

THOUSAND OAKS — Billy Miller, Westlake High’s All-American receiver, ended weeks of speculation on Wednesday by signing a letter of intent to play football at USC.

Miller visited USC, UCLA, Colorado and Washington. By Monday he had only eliminated Washington, because the Huskies asked him for an early commitment. He said he finally chose the Trojans on Tuesday morning.

“I kind of woke up with this feeling that I wanted to go to USC,” he said. “I talked to (Westlake Coach Jim) Benkert and both of my parents, and we all decided that’s the place for me.

“With three great schools--Colorado, UCLA and USC--it was just one little thing (that made the difference), and I can’t figure out what that one little thing was. But I just had in my heart that ‘SC is the place where I wanted to go.”

Miller, The Times’ Ventura County player of the year, was one of nine Ventura County football players who showed up at the Westlake Plaza Hyatt for a signing luncheon Wednesday, the first day of the NCAA football signing period.

The other eight players made earlier commitments, but Miller didn’t announce his decision until Wednesday, drawing a circle of seven reporters as he described the process that swayed him toward the Trojans.

“I’d go to bed saying there’s no doubt that I’m going to UCLA,” Miller said. “Then I’d wake up and I’d be going to Colorado. Then I’d go to bed saying I’m going to USC. That happened for a while. I didn’t get any sleep. I’d go to bed at 4 in the morning and wake up at 6 to go to school. It will be nice to get some sleep tonight. I know that. . . .

“I’ve given it so much thought that I don’t want to think about it anymore. I just want to strap on the pads and play. . . . I’m through with all this recruiting business. It gets frustrating once in a while. It can make you a head case.”

Miller said he had no shortage of people willing to help him make his decision, though.

“A guy walked out of the movie theater and told me where to go to school,” he said. “So many people have so many opinions. It’s been tough. I had to listen to them all and take them into consideration. A lot of people I didn’t even know and never would have known if not for football, just all of a sudden wanted to talk to me and tell me where to go to school.”

At 6 feet 4, 215 pounds, Miller was considered among the nation’s top receiver prospects. He made postseason All-American teams picked by Bluechip Illustrated, Scholastic Coach and Parade magazines.

He led Ventura County with 67 receptions for 1,057 yards and caught 14 touchdown passes. He was Southern Section Division III co-player of the year, offensive back of the year in the Ventura County coaches’ poll and Marmonte League co-most valuable player.

In three varsity seasons, Miller caught 180 passes for 2,946 yards and 33 touchdowns.

Miller said his concern now is Bishop Amat tailback Daylon McCutcheon, an All-American who is expected to decide later this week if he will sign with USC.

“I’ll call him about seven times a day,” Miller joked. “Maybe I’ll send him some USC stuff.”

Area Football Players Who Have Committed

Valley and Ventura County prep football players who have committed to colleges and universities:

Name H.S. Pos. Ht. Wt. Univ. Billy Miller Westlake WR 6-3 210 USC Langston Woodberry Mont. Prep DL 6-1 300 UCLA Davon Young Sylmar DB 6-2 180 Nevada