Ivy League running back transfer considering South Carolina as decision looms

Ben Portnoy
·4 min read

Dante Miller and a trio of teammates snagged a quartet of shovels and began scooping the roughly four inches of snow off the playing surface they stood upon.

January 2021 was gloomy around the Columbia football team. The Lions’ fall season had been canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Ivy League decided not to allow a spring season to be played.

So there Miller and his teammates stood, scooping shovel-fulls of snow in an attempt to workout in the New York winter with no discernible idea when their next game might come.

“That speaks to some of the different things we went through just to be able to train together, or train at all,” Miller told The State.

Fast-forward a year and Miller is fresh off a dominant 2021 campaign. He led a Lions squad that had just two winning seasons since 2010 to a 7-3 record and an upset of eventual Ivy League champion Dartmouth.

Miller has since entered the transfer portal in search of a new opportunity for his final fall in college football. He’s weighing his options, South Carolina included.

“They really shoot you with a different type type of respect, energy, and the genuineness that comes with the program — that’s something I really do love about (South Carolina),” he said.

Miller had ample options coming out of high school. Duke, Illinois, East Carolina, James Madison and a handful of other programs sniffed around. He eventually committed to JMU, before his ACT score came back. Miller didn’t disclose the exact score, but it was high — high enough Columbia, Harvard and Princeton were interested.

Miller eventually backed off his James Madison pledge and committed to Columbia.

“(My family) came to the conclusion that (Columbia) would be a great decision to prepare for the next 40 years of my life rather than just four,” Miller said. “I knew that I could always transfer up and go to go play at a bigger school, but I (also) knew that playing in the Ivy League was something that you wouldn’t always get the opportunity to do.”

When the Ivy League did announce the cancellation of its 2020 season, players at Columbia weren’t in New York City, but at home. It was a surprise, one that would end the college careers of a handful of players.

With the season canceled and practice limited, Miller worked out at a gym not too far from his apartment in New York. When he could, he hopped on the No. 1 train and rode the 30 minutes north from 110th St. to the football facility on 218th St.

Miller grinded during the down months. He and his teammates shoveled snow off the field when they had to. He snuck in whatever extra work he could. It culminated with a 2021 season in which Miller topped in the league in yards (838) and was second in yards per touch (5.8) out of runners with at least 100 carries.

“We put the time in and we got the results,” Miller said. “It’s nice seeing you know, Columbia’s football program, turning (itself around) and becoming something that is a powerhouse in the Ivy League.”

South Carolina’s running back room isn’t so much in a precarious place as it is unproven. Gone are the Gamecocks’ 2021 rushing leaders in ZaQuandre White and Kevin Harris. Juju McDowell and MarShawn Lloyd flashed in spurts a season ago, but neither has been a bell cow at the college level.

Shane Beamer’s staff has added a more experienced option in Wake Forest transfer Christian Beal-Smith, who’s already on campus. Beal-Smith led the Demon Deacons in rushing the past two seasons — including beating out eventual Michigan State star Kenneth Walker for the team rushing title in 2020.

“Running back, with Kevin and ZaQuandre leaving, that’s two guys that you lose,” head coach Shane Beamer said earlier this month in regard to where USC might add from the transfer portal. “We have one coming in, as you guys know. We’ll see what happens with that.”

Now armed with a Columbia degree and one more year of eligibility, Miller again has options. He’s received reported offers from Delaware, Sacramento State, Rhode Island, Samford and Albany. South Carolina, for now, can only offer a preferred walk-on spot. It still has Miller’s attention.

Miller says he’s still a few weeks away from a decision. If that lands him in Columbia, S.C., snow shoveling likely won’t be part of his offseason repertoire.

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