Braxton Miller to receive major honor from Ohio State

“Blessed to be selected for the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2024,” he wrote along with a video on social media. “Buckeye Nation, I’ll love y’all forever… #GoBuckeyes.”

Miller was a four-year starter at quarterback at Wayne and led the Warriors to the Division I state championship as a senior the fall of 2010.

A five-star recruit in the class of 2011, he chose Ohio State and became the Big Ten Freshman of the Year that fall, providing a bright spot in a season marred by NCAA suspensions of several upperclassmen and the unexpected offseason exits of coach Jim Tressel and quarterback Terrelle Pryor.

When Urban Meyer took over as head coach of the Buckeyes in 2012, the cat-quick Miller proved to be the perfect fit for his spread offense. He led them to an undefeated season in 2012 and was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, quarterback of the year and most valuable player (winning the Chicago Tribune Silver Football).

A year later, Miller earned all of those honors again while leading the Buckeyes to another undefeated regular season, but they lost to Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship Game and to Clemson in the Orange Bowl.

Miller suffered a shoulder injury in the latter contest then was lost for the 2014 season when he aggravated the injury in preseason practice, though J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones led Ohio State to the national championship in his absence.

He returned in 2015 as a receiver and caught 26 passes for 341 yards, playing well enough to be a third round pick of the Houston Texans in the 2016 NFL Draft.

He caught 34 passes for 261 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the NFL, but injuries cut short his pro career.

Miller finished his Ohio State career with 5,295 yards passing, 3,314 yards rushing and 8,609 yards of total offense. He ran for 33 touchdowns, threw for 52 and caught three.

His 88 touchdowns responsible for are a school record, and he finished his career second in yards of total offense at Ohio State.

He also set a Big Ten record with seven major individual awards.

After retiring from football, Miller created the Braxton Miller Foundation, an organization rooted in providing athletic and STEM opportunities for youth.

He endorsed the opening of a news sports-centric elementary school in Springfield (Springfield Sports Academy) last year and was part of a group that purchased the former Urbana University with the intention of turning it into a prep school.

An Ohio State spokesperson confirmed Miller will be part of the next class of OSU hall of famers. The rest of the class will be announced in July.

The whole group will be honored during a home football weekend early in the season.