Q&A with Tulane commitment Miles Strickland
Madison (Ala.) Bob Jones running back Miles Strickland did not have a scholarship offer when he arrived at Tulane for his official visit this pat weekend, but he left as a commitment after impressing the coaches. Boasting a 3.9 GPA and reported 4.45 speed, he plans to prove his small stature will not prevent him from being a star in college.
Sunday night, he spoke with TheWaveReport.com on the phone, explaining how a player from a town in North Alabama ended up in New Orleans. Here is the transcript of that interview:
What were the primary factors in you choosing Tulane?
“Well the biggest factor was me coming down here, looking at the city and really experiencing the whole school. I really didn’t know that much about Tulane other than it’s a prestigious school with very notable alumni and when I came here, my parents were the most concerned about it. It’s New Orleans. It has the image of the big, bad city, but we just flat out fell in love with it. We just loved it all.
“I just love how coach Fritz, he’s notorious for turning those programs around, and I just want to be a part of that and also I’m getting a great education. The tuition there is almost half a million dollars, so I just can’t ask for any better place to continue my studies than Tulane University. I’m really excited.”
When did they first contact you, and did they convince you to take an official visit pretty quickly?
“What actually happened was I wasn’t officially offered until this weekend. When they first started getting contact with me, it was a few weeks ago, well pretty much when they first got there. I did have some contact with them when they were at Georgia Southern, so I guess they must have just carried me over to Tulane with them.
“I was really shaky about coming down here in the first place because I wasn’t officially offered, and I had other offers and had to take my official visits. But they convinced me, just saying it’s always worth the risk, come down here and see what we have to offer. We’re not going to promise you anything, but we’re really excited. We would really love to have you on the team, so we’re going to try to work some things out and see how it goes. They ended up convincing us to go down there and I guess things have turned out for the best for us.”
What was the best part of your visit?
“I haven’t been in New Orleans since I was a little kid, so just coming in here and really getting that full experience of New Orleans is really exciting. Being older, I kind of understand things a little bit better, and seeing all the opportunities around New Orleans is just amazing. We have the business district right there, and that’s what I want to get into. I want to get into business school, so I have all the resources I need right here in the city.”
What are your best assets on the field?
“I would say my vision, and the fact that most people, they see my size and they’re like, he doesn’t seem like a running back. I just tell them hey, look at my film because I have some power behind me. A lot of people don’t understand that. You look at my film, and the first play is me running over a guy. Me growing as an athlete, I realized that I have more than just speed. I’m very versatile. You can put me anywhere around the field and I’m ready to go.”
What’s your height and weight?
“I’m 5-8 ½ and 175 pounds.”
When did they offer you this weekend?
“On Saturday. We came down Friday, and the second day it was towards the end of our tour. We had an exit meeting because we had to leave fairly early for the six-hour drive back home. Coach Fritz came in here and said we’re so impressed with you that we’re giving you the offer. I was like, OK, let’s go. I committed right away.”
What other schools were you considering?
“Troy, Tennessee-Chattanooga, South Alabama and a couple of others.”
How good a fit do you feel like you for what Tulane is going to run?
“I’m very excited. Studying Georgia Southern before they came here, their staff tore up the Sun Belt Conference. They came straight from a Division 1-AA school and just tore it up over there. They were leading the nation in rushing. It’s all right there for me.”
What do you need to improve on the most?
“Definitely my size. I’m going to be playing against some bigger guys. I’ve never been afraid of bigger competition, so that’s never a problem, but it’s always nice to have some power behind your runs and your legs, so that’s going to be my biggest focus this summer, and probably getting a little bit more agility because that’s always a nice characteristic to have as well.”
How many yards did you rush for as a senior? I read you rushed for more than 1,200 as a junior.
“This year I didn’t have as many carries as I did my junior year. I had 161 yards and I ran for over 1,100 yards, and I had 28 receptions for 440-something yards, so overall I came out with about 1,500 yards all-purpose.”
You mentioned it was a hard sell for your parents at first. What convinced them?
“The questions were mostly based on safety, and we came here, we talked to the officers here and they just had it all figured out. We talked to a few players, and they’ve never really had a problem with that. Obviously New Orleans has its bad parts, but it’s your choice whether you go there or not. And Tulane is a rather safe place.”