321preps Dandy Dozen: Recruiting strengthening for Viera football's Cameron Mills
Cameron Mills offers a rather representative example of how the college football recruiting process works.
At first, there is interest from colleges lower on the pecking order. They sometimes make early offers for athletes they deem worthy and likely to rise in the eyes of recruiters from bigger schools.
Eventually, those bigger schools get in on the activity, and that seems to be happening for Mills, a Viera defensive back who also has running back on his resume.
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"He's gotten a little taller," new Hawks head coach Shane Staples said before a recent practice. "At DB, when you hit that six-foot mark, all of a sudden, they start coming in. Then, this summer he did all of the camps. I think they started seeing he could play."
Mills is one of 12 Brevard County senior high school football players on FLORIDA TODAY's list of most highly sought recruits, the 321preps Dandy Dozen.
A trip to a West Virginia camp was one of the milestones in Mills' recruiting. He's drawn interest from Navy, Army, USF and Marshall, among others.
"There were a lot of coaches there," he said. "I was playing at DB and everything went good that day."
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Last season, he rushed 54 times for 406 yards and four scores. He recorded 15 tackles and recovered a fumble. His athleticism showed in another sport as well. In the spring, he had a best high jump of 6 feet, 2 1/4 inches. He also ran on the sprint relay team that placed third in the Cape Coast Conference.
At about 170 pounds, little of Mills' size is wasted.
"Cam's always been built," Staples said. "Cam's a strong kid. You look at him; he doesn't have any body fat on him. That helps him at corner, for sure."
His speed, long limbs and strength suit him well for his sport and have made him a versatile member of the Hawks.
"He's really both sides of the ball for us. He's special at running back," Staples said. "At the next level, he's definitely a DB, just because of the way he's built, but in high school, he's special at running back. He'll be doing both for us, at times."
Mills is quiet about his top target for college, but he has one in mind that could determine whether he signs early or waits for the winter.
"Once I get that offer, that'll be it," he said. "It could be December. I don't know."
Contact McCallum at bmccallum@floridatoday.com. Follow @321preps on Twitter and Instagram. Be sure to subscribe to FLORIDA TODAY.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: 321preps Dandy Dozen: Cameron Mills of Viera high school football
