Miller will shed uniform today for tux tonight

AMES - Uniform by day, tuxedo by night.

Saturday afternoon Jevohn Miller will participate in his first spring football game. Hours later he'll be sporting a corsage on the dance floor at BGM High School's prom.

Iowa State coaches and teammates are hoping he looks as good in a helmet and shoulder pads as he does in a bow tie and wing tips.

“I think the spring game is evenly weighted in its importance to him as prom is,” Coach Paul Rhoads said.

Miller graduated a semester early and enrolled at ISU in January.

The freshman linebacker has been able to go through spring practice and by all accounts shown he's got a bright future, one that could begin as early as this season.

“I wouldn't be surprised to see him on the field,” said linebacker A.J. Klein. “He's one of those kids who likes to work. By fall he may be a special teams guy. I'm real excited to have him with us.”

Miller was a first-team all-state performer as a prep, playing both ways for the Bears.

Listed at 6-4, 236 pounds, he's got a Big 12-ready body. His mind isn't there quite yet, which he's fully aware of.

“You get some kids who come in and they talk like they are better than what they are,” said the guy ahead of him on the depth chart at WILL linebacker, junior Jake Knott. “He's the complete opposite. He's humble and works hard and listens to everything. He'll definitely help this football program out.”

Miller's made his share of on-field mistakes. And apparently apologizes profusely for them.

“I always tell him, ‘Don't be sorry, just learn it and do better next time,'” Klein said. “He's eager to learn and it shows.”

Miller made 349 tackles - 46 for a loss - in his four seasons at BGM. As a senior he rushed 85 times for 840 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also caught and threw for scores.

Rhoads thinks he's found a diamond in the rough.

“You have to be a football player in order to get on the field, and he is a football player,” the coach said. “He could line up wrong and do the wrong thing and still make the play.”

Tradition lives on

Cyclone running backs will carry on the nickname “Wolfpack” this season and for a long time to come if Jeff Woody has anything to say about it.

“It goes way back,” Woody, a sophomore tailback/fullback. “We are going to keep that going as long as we can. It accurately describes what we've got. One person does well and the rest celebrate it.”

The name is more than a decade old, stretching to the days when Ennis Haywood lined up in ISU's backfield.

Kicking back

Shontrelle Johnson had a huge impact on kickoff returns last season. Despite his standing as the team's likely starting tailback this coming season, Johnson is planning on being back there again.

“As of right now, yes,” he said.

The threat of injury doesn't faze him, or ISU's coaches apparently.

“It's part of the game. You can get hurt walking across the road,” said Johnson, who averaged 23.4 yards per runback.