Alabama 5-star signee Brandon Miller says expectations will be high next year
This Tuesday, 24 of the top prospects in the country will participate in the 45th McDonald’s All-American Game. One of those participants is Brandon Miller, a five-star prospect who signed with Alabama in the 2022 recruiting cycle.
To be named a McDonald’s All-American is a hallmark achievement for any high school basketball prospect.
Miller spoke with the media on Monday afternoon and opened up about what this accomplishment means to him.
“This is probably one of the biggest dreams a majority of kids probably have in the whole U.S.,” Miller said. “Being selected as one of the 24 [kids], it’s probably the most exciting thing that’s ever happened in my life. I feel like I haven’t really taken everything in yet. But I’ll tell you next week, I’ll probably take it in and see that I was actually named a McDonald’s All-American.”
Brandon Miller says he and Jaden Bradley will be “a crazy duo”
Another Alabama signee named as a McDonald’s All-American is Jaden Bradley. Unfortunately, Bradley will be unable to play in this game due to a minor injury he’s dealing with.
Miller says Bradley, the first commit in the Crimson Tide’s 2022 class, reached out to him shortly after committing to Alabama on Sept. 30, 2021.
“With my recruiting process, I always thought the bond was the most important thing,” Miller said. “With Jaden being the first person committed, he reached out to me as the first person he wanted to play with. It just made our bond even closer. Ever since then, we’ve been getting closer and closer as brothers from another mother.”
Although Alabama fans will not get a chance to see Bradley and Miller team up together tomorrow night, Miller believes the two have a bright future together in Tuscaloosa.
“It’s definitely going to be a crazy duo,” Miller said. “It’s probably going to be something that people have never seen. Him being there, it’s probably the best thing. It’s just us getting closer as brothers. He can’t really play right now because he has that toe injury. I think he’ll be back probably in a couple of months and everything should get started.”
Miller explains why he chose Alabama, talks about expectations for next year
Miller, a product of Antioch (Tn.), is the son of Darrell Miller, who played for Alabama’s football program in the early 1990s. As a result, Miller grew up as a fan of the Crimson Tide, with his family — father included — being excited about his commitment to Alabama last November.
When talking with the media on Monday, Miller cited the relationships he built with the staff as the primary reason why he chose the program.
“The biggest thing, like I said, is the bond,” Miller said. “The coaches reached out to me kind of early. They just kept in contact early, so it just made our bond even closer, which made me choose Alabama.”
Alabama’s 2021-2022 season was an up-and-down one that saw them start off 8-1 before finishing the year with a 19-12 regular season record. The Crimson Tide were eliminated by Notre Dame in the first game of the NCAA Tournament.
Miller boiled down Alabama’s struggles to one problem: Lack of leadership.
“One thing I feel like I can bring is a lot of leadership,” Miller said. “I think that was missing, just a little bit of leadership this year. That’s why the season ended real early. I think the big thing with that is just communication with everybody on the team and everybody buying in.”
So, with the No. 6 overall class in the country coming in, what should the expectations for Alabama be next year?
“It’s definitely going to be high,” Miller said. “All the recruits’ goal is to win a natty and I feel like we can actually win a natty.”
During his time speaking with the media, Miller dropped a little bit of a recruiting nugget for Alabama fans. Miller highlighted Princeton point guard transfer Jaelin Llewellyn, who is visiting Tuscaloosa.
“We have a kid who is on a visit right now,” Miller said. “I actually just got off the phone with the coaches probably an hour ago… he was on a visit. He seemed like he liked it. Hopefully we get him to come to Alabama.”
