Princeton’s Payne Miller commits to Western Illinois

PRINCETON – Payne Miller has visited a lot of colleges on his many adventures to find a home to play football at the next level.

On Wednesday, he found it.

The Princeton senior lineman announced his intentions to commit to Western Illinois University to play for the Leathernecks, saying he was “stoked.”

He visited numerous schools before deciding Western was the right fit.

“Going down to WIU, I had already had intentions of committing to a school soon, so going down and seeing facilities and what they might be able to offer me was important,” he said. “But overall I would say my reason for committing was because it felt like home, and I could 100 percent see myself playing under the coaches and culture there at WIU.”

Princeton coach Ryan Pearson said the Leathernecks are getting a special talent and great young man.

“Payne is extremely explosive with great feet for a kid that weighs 290 pounds. As good of a player that he is, WIU is getting a high-character young man who will work extremely hard,” Pearson said.

“I am so happy for Payne and his family. It’s fantastic. Anytime you have a player that gets an opportunity to get their education paid for while playing the game they love, it’s pretty awesome.”

Miller also received an offer from Lindenwood University, a new NCAA Division I program in St. Charles, Mo.

He also drew D-I interest from Drake and Butler and received numerous junior day invites.

The next Tiger up on the immediate recruiting front is senior lineman Bennett Williams. He has received offers from 10 schools, including nearly all of the state schools – ISU, Western, Eastern and Southern.

Williams’ other offers have come from Army, Air Force Academy, Indiana State, Grand Valley State, Columbia, Minnesota State and Lindenwood.

He has made recent visits to the camps of four D-I schools – Illinois, Wyoming, Iowa and Northwestern.

Princeton junior end Noah LaPorte has already caught the eye of Illinois and has been their guest on campus.