Sandusky's DaShanti Miller will play at Central State

SANDUSKY -- DaShanti Miller held her signing day ceremony on Tuesday and several speakers had plenty of nice things to say about the Sandusky High School senior. "I started getting emotional when they all started talking; I tried to hide it," said Miller. "I never thought I'd be going to college. Basketball helped me get there so it's a real big deal." Miller, a third-team All-Ohio Division I selection this year, will play college basketball at Central State University in Wilberforce. CSU competes at the NCAA Division II level and is a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Miller, who was a unanimous first-team pick in the Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division this past season, said she wanted to attend a historically black university and Central State is one of the few HBCUs in the Midwest. "We got a lot of Sandusky history there," she said of CSU. "I want to make more." Miller said she also considered Terra State and Siena Heights University in Michigan. She will study exercise science with the goal of becoming an athletic trainer. Sandusky girls basketball coach Richard Koonce and athletic director Shawn Coakley lauded Miller for her strong work ethic. "I've never had a girl in this program who worked as hard as she did to get better," Koonce said. "It is a job; it's a great job," Coakley told Miller of being a scholarship athlete. "I have 100 percent faith that you will be successful at the next level because of your desire to be good." Miller plans to play AAU basketball this summer and report to campus in early August. The Marauders will be led by first-year coach Cathy Parson. "She thinks I can do a lot with rebounding and will break down my skills to become a better shooter," said the 5-foot-11 Miller, who surpassed 1,000 career points and rebounds with the Blue Streaks.