At the Carl Lewis Invitational his freshman year, CaDarius McMiller ran the indoor 60 meters in 6.97, a personal record.
McMiller, 6-1, 195, committed to the Ducks on Saturday, their fifth commitment of the 2027 class. He's the latest in a series of promising Texas running backs to fly north for college football. All-time great LaMichael James and Tradarian Ball hail from Texarkana, about two hours northeast up State Highway 155N.
James ran his best time in the 60 as a redshirt freshman at Oregon, 6.77 seconds at the Husky Classic in Seattle. McMiller, four years younger than LMJ was then, only needs to gain a stride and a half to catch him. As a sophomore at Tyler the tall, lean running back ran 10.59 in the 100 meters. He could crack 10.5 this spring, which would put him in James/Barner/Thomas territory as a speed merchant.
The Ducks have developed a pipeline in the Lone Star State. Oregon running backs coach Ra'Shaad Samples grew up in Duncanville, part of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where his father became a Texas legend coaching prep football. Duck wide receiver phenom Dakorien Moore is a former Panther.
Ducks continue to nab top talent from Texas
Texas speed has energized the Oregon offense for a long while, beginning with James, Darron Thomas, Josh Huff and Bralon Addison, now Moore, Ball, and 2026 five-star receiver Jalen Lott. McMiller could be the latest, a power back with burst who made himself the talk of the diners and barbecue joints when he ran for six touchdowns in a game against Seagoville last September. The week before, he had five.
"I go into every game like that. I just had to work," he said to the local CBS affiliate. His teammates call him The Kid Next Door. In his third year on the varsity he ran for 939 yards and 17 TDs, 8.7 yards per carry, stats that keep him in the fast company along with Ball and Duck sophomore Dierre Hill, except he's bigger.
Coming from Tyler, known in the Southwest as The Rose City, every running back lives under the shadow of the Tyler Rose, Earl Campbell, the Longhorn legend. Yet McMiller, a Navy All-American, chose the Ducks over Notre Dame, Texas and two dozen other schools. Samples won him over with steady communication.
High school coach Rashaun Woods assures Duck fans they're getting a good one. “Cadarius’s grit, speed, and heart embody the very best of Tyler High School,” he said.
Grit, speed and heart: That makes him sound like a bigger LaMichael James. We'll see. The staff still have their eyes on Noah Roberts, the four-star running back prospect from Basha High in Chandler, Arizona. Iron sharpens iron, after all.