Inside The Huskies

UW's John Mills Earns Freshman All-American Reward

The first-year offensive lineman started 10 games at two different positions for the Huskies.
Dan Raley|
John Mills soaks in a 42-25 victory over Illinois in his return from an injury.
John Mills soaks in a 42-25 victory over Illinois in his return from an injury. | Dave Sizer photo

As John Mills' blond locks continue to grow longer -- spurring the creation of a fan club filled with well-meaning impersonators -- so does his college football resume. There might be no end in sight for either his tresses or accolades.

A week after being named All-Big Ten honorable mention on the conference's media team, the University of Washington offensive lineman was chosen on Monday as a Freshman All-American selection by the football website On3.

The 6-foot-6, 342-pound Mills from San Francisco is the Huskies' second freshman in two seasons to be named the best player at his position in his class, joining now UW sophomore tight end Decker DeGraaf.

Seventeen years old when the season began, the precocious Mills established himself as a starter at the outset and not only opened 10 games, he pulled first-team assignments at both left guard and right tackle for the Huskies.

He did this while coming back from a severe high-ankle sprain that cost him two games and put him on the sideline. He responded to the coaching staff's request for him to temporarily replace an injured Drew Azzopardi at right tackle.

The Huskies' sixth-year right guard Geirean Hatchett said Mills comes ready to play each game and doesn't reveal his youth on the football field.

"John might come off as an 18-year-old, 17-year-old kid, on the outside, but in the football world like he's very, very mature on game day," the veteran said. "He's in there making all the right calls. He's very mature, not goofing around like you think an 18-year-old would."

In fact, on game days Mills comes off very much as a technician in recognizing defensive shifts and communicating what needs to be done by himself and those surrounding him in a UW jersey.

"He's very mental locked in, like he knows everything that's supposed to be going on on the football field," Hatchett said. "It hasn't been difficult trying to relate to him because he's pretty mature football-wise, for sure."

John Mills and his loyal followers at a Husky game.
John Mills and his loyal followers at a Husky game. | Big Ten Network

Mills shared the On3 Freshman All-American offensive line with Alabama's Michael Carroll, Oklahoma's Michael Fasusi, Georgia's Dontrell Glover and Tennessee's David Sanders Jr., all SEC players.

California's Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was picked as the freshman quarterback with no equal.

In all, eight of the 23 freshman selections hailed from the Big Ten, eight came from the SEC, six from the ACC and one from the American.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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