Next game
Who: Miami RedHawks (0-6, 0-2 MAC) at Ohio Bobcats (4-2, 2-0)
When: 2 p.m. Saturday
TV: None
Radio: WMOH-AM (1450), WPFB-AM (910), WPFB-FM (105.9)
Online: News updates, stats and photos Journal-News.com/miami
OXFORD — Last fall, Miami University’s DeAndre Gilmore was wondering if he had made a huge mistake.
Gilmore had been an all-state basketball player at Cardinal Ritter High School in St. Louis who had received some serious offers to continue his career on the hardwood in college.
“I was a basketball player my whole life,” Gilmore. “I got basketball offers (from Southern Illinois, Missouri and Saint Louis). I even have a tattoo of a basketball. I wasn’t even thinking about football until I was a sophomore in high school.”
He was thinking a lot about football last fall, which you would expect, being a defensive back on Miami’s football team. Some of his thoughts weren’t so positive.
“My first year at Miami I played a lot in the nickel position,” he said. “In my sophomore year, I didn’t play as much and I thought, man, did I make the right decision?
“I stuck it out, prayed on it, and now everything is working out.”
Last weekend, the Miami junior, who has been switched to outside linebacker, recorded a team-leading and career-high 12 tackles in the RedHawks’ 16-6 loss at Northwestern.
Gilmore, who had won a state championship in basketball as a high school freshman, decided his future lay in football.
“Things just started happening so fast in high school,” he said. “I was getting football offers faster than basketball offers. I was really confused.
“I was looking past college, looking to see which sport gave me the best chance to go to the next level,” he added. “Basketball is my first love, but I enjoy playing football.”
Gilmore played in 10 games for Miami in 2007 and turned some heads when he brought down a Bowling Green runner for an 18-yard loss.
His playing time had been whittled down in 2008. Then Miami’s new coaches decided they needed Gilmore at a new position.
“I’m more of a contact person than a coverage person,” he said. “The transition is definitely going pretty good. (Linebacker) fits me better. I need to spend more time in the film room, and I can definitely get better.”
Gilmore has started the past five weeks and took his game to a new level against Cincinnati on Oct. 3, when he came up with five tackles and ended the first half with an interception.
“I’d say last week was one of my best games stats-wise, but the Cincinnati game, I don’t know, there was something different inside of me and the momentum from the Cincinnati game rode on to the next game,” Gilmore said. “My confidence was a little higher.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.
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