Something to cheer for
Whitehaven has a player on both sides of Alabama-ohio State football national title game.
Three years ago, Cormontae Hamilton was taking trips to recruiting camps and deciding where he wanted to play college football. When he went to camp at Alabama, he stayed with Joshua Mcmillon, a Crimson Tide linebacker who graduated from Whitehaven a few years earlier.
"It was during the summertime. I went up there and got him," Mcmillon said. "I was actually coming back home. And then he stayed at my house and he ended up doing the camp and I ended up helping him out. Just because you want to give back. Once you're a Whitehaven Tiger, you're always a Whitehaven Tiger."
Hamilton ended up picking Ohio State. He was so determined to get an offer from the Buckeyes that he took a Greyhound bus by himself to camp in Columbus so the coaches could see him in person. Mcmillon, who graduated from Alabama with a degree in mechanical engineering, was granted a medical redshirt after missing last season with a torn ACL.
And Monday night, they'll both be in Miami for the College Football Playoff National Championship as Alabama takes on Ohio State. It's the first time Whitehaven has had a player on both teams in the national title game.
“It's just exciting for the kids to have this opportunity," said Whitehaven coach Rodney Saulsberry.
"That's what we do this for. Our whole mission is to further their education using the game of football and it can take you anywhere. Those guys took that to heart and are playing at the highest level."
Mcmillon, a 6-foot-3, 240-pound linebacker, won titles with Alabama in 2015 and 2017. He's a graduate student and he's played in 28 games in his career with 28 total tackles and two tackles for loss.
This is the fourth time Alabama has made the title game since he's been there. But he said this one feels different because it's the last one of
his college career.
"There's many, many emotions. I love Alabama to death," Mcmillon said. "I've met a lot of people and made a lot of memories here. It's real bittersweet. I'm ready to see what my future holds, but I don't want to let go of what I have here."
Hamilton, who is a 6-foot-2, 265pound redshirt freshman, is just getting started at Ohio State. He said that playing for the Buckeyes is everything he dreamed it would be when he took that first bus trip to Columbus.
He was recruited as a tight end but switched to defensive line this year and has played in four games. He recorded his first sack in the Big Ten championship game and has three total tackles.
"I really thought about it and prayed to God about it because I loved catching and tight end was my main thing in high school," Hamilton said. "It was a quicker way to get on the field. And (defensive line) Coach (Larry) Johnson liked how hard of a worker I was and thought I could do well on defense. He told me to trust in him and believe in him. So I put everything into it."
Hamilton's mom, Nikki Gilmore, said she's excited to make the trip to Miami to see him play.
"It's been a great experience for us," Gilmore said. "And I'm just happy for him to be away from home at a great school following his passion and having a chance to make the national championship game."
Mcmillon's mom, Jacqueline Mcmillon, said that she and her husband are planning to attend the game. She's excited to see Josh chase championship No. 3. And she's excited that Whitehaven has a player on both teams.
"My heart is just on fire to know that our son has made these great accomplishments and is here now at the national championship with a young man who also attended Whitehaven High School," Jacqueline Mcmillon said. "I couldn't ask for anything more, just to be able to see those two out on the football field coming out of the same high school. I know that Whitehaven High School's chest is stuck out for this great accomplishment."