Hibbler talks Kent State commitment

With star player Dri Archer entering his senior season at Kent State, head coach Paul Haynes has made finding a replacement for the all-purpose back a priority in his recruitment of his 2014 class. The first-year Golden Flashes head man may have landed just that today when he received a commitment from Troy, Ohio running back Miles Hibbler.

The 5-foot-10, 190-pounder picked Kent State today over the likes of Toledo, Eastern Michigan, Akron, Bowling Green, and Ohio. Hibbler received an offer from the Golden Flashes just about a month ago, and committed today when he took his first visit to the school.

"I was up there all day for a tour," Hibbler said. "They've been contacting me real hard. I felt comfortable with it. I wanted to go up there and I've felt real strong about committing there for a while. I just wanted to take a look at the place and I knew for sure that it was where I wanted to go."

Asked why he chose to commit to Kent State, Hibbler pointed to not the football field, but the classroom.

"(It was ) definitely about the programs that I want to major in," he said. "They have real good architectural stuff there and that's what I want to major in."

That's not to say, however, that football didn't impact Hibbler's decision. Having rushed for 688 yards and six touchdowns in his junior season at Troy high school, he believes that he can be the heir apparent to Archer at the Golden Flashes' hybrid position on offense.

"They see me in how they have Dri Archer in more of a running back/slot kind of role," Hibbler said. "They want me to play there when he leaves."

Hibbler is the first player in the class of 2014 to give his commitment to Kent State. In 2013, Haynes signed a class of 21 players after taking over for new Purdue coach Darrell Hazell last December.