How MAHS star Miller balances sports life
MURFREESBORO — Last week, Memphis Academy of Health Sciences junior Cameron Miller was in Alabama playing 7-on-7 football.
One week later, he is trying to lead the Lions through the Class A state tournament.
That has been the balance for the four-star wide receiver recruit as basketball season began while preparing for his final high school football season.
Miller led the Lions to a 56-52 victory over West Carroll in the Class A quarterfinals on Wednesday, with 19 points and seven rebounds at Middle Tennessee State’s Murphy Center.
“Cameron always has his hard hat on, and he always works hard,” MAHS coach Vernard Watkins said. “He never takes a play off. He is that tough guy for us, and the guys feed off of him.”
Miller, listed at 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, is the No. 13 football recruit in Tennessee and No. 51 wide receiver in the class of 2022, according to the 247Sports Composite.
There was no fall season for Miller and his football teammates as Shelby County Schools never allowed football to start. So Miller was left to try and work on football on his own.
“It is hard trying to do both,” Miller said. “Basketball is really quick up and down the court. With football, there is time in between. I was down at 7-on-7s, and I told my coach I was going to miss two days. But when I got back that Sunday, I went right to work.”
As the Lions started playing in early December, Miller wasn’t on the team. He started working out with the team at the beginning of January.
“It was rough not having a football season,” Miller said. “I decided to play in January, and there wasn’t any excuses from there.”
MAHS earned a spot in the Class A state tournament in 2020, but the tournament didn’t happen because of COVID-19.
“The football team didn’t get to play this year,” Watkins said. “We didn’t think we would get to play, but once we got to go, we wanted to put on for the school.”
Miller said that his speed, quickness and anticipating the passing lane is where he sees his football game translating onto the basketball court.
Watkins is appreciative of the chance to play this season, so much so that he kicked Miller out of practice in what he called an old-school motivation tactic.
He wasn’t mad at Miller for one bad play, but he wanted to make sure his team was focused to try and earn the program’s first-ever win in the state tournament.
“I just sat him and was resting him,” Watkins said. “I knew Cameron had a lot going on. He is going to show up when the lights come on. It brought the team closer.”
Miller didn’t know that he was going to be sat at practice, but he said it did fire him up for Wednesday.
Miller listed his top six schools on Jan. 4, with Memphis, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Alabama, Auburn and Oregon making the cut.
Reach Michael Odom at michodom@jacksonsun.com or 731-425-9754. Follow him on Twitter @Jswritermichael.