The knock on Dunbar High junior cornerback Seneca Milledge is he comes in a small package.

At 5-foot-6, Milledge understands he's undersized for play in a Power 5 conference. He doesn't expect to grow much more.

That hasn't deterred 18 Division I programs, including a host of Power 5 schools, from extending scholarship offers to the speedy playmaker.

The three-star recruit who is committed to North Carolina State chooses to focus on what he can control. Namely, the work he puts in during the offseason and his play on the field.

"I may be 5-6, but my goal is to play like I'm 6-4," said Milledge, who checks in at No. 11 in The News-Press and Naples Daily News The Big 15, a list that counts down the top 15 football recruits in Southwest Florida.

The Big 15 Seneca Milledge(Photo: Lindi Daywalt)

He appeared on the national radar over two years ago while still in middle school as a sprinter rather than a cornerback or receiver. Running for Fort Myers’ Olympia Track Club in the 15-16 age boys’ division in March 2016, he scored two meet records in the 55-meter dash and 200 meters at the USATF Hershey’s National Youth Indoor Track and Field Championships in New York.

After his bid to reach the podium in the 100 and long jump at the Florida High School Athletic Association championships was derailed by injury his freshman season, the 2017 The News-Press Boys Track Athlete of the Year finalist rebounded last season by winning silver in the long jump and bronze in the 100.

On the combine circuit, he's impressed recruiters at every turn. He clocked a 4.46 40-yard dash and turned in a 42.2-inch vertical leap.

"Wherever he'll be he'll be fast," Dunbar coach Sammy Brown said. "When you're that small you've got to be that fast."

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Number 11 in The Big 15 is Dunbar's Seneca Milledge. He is a wide receiver, corner back, and all around fast man for the Tigers. Special thanks to Sky Zone of Fort Myers for letting us photograph at their facility.
Andrea Melendez/news-press.com

Brown brought Milledge along slowly following the quad injury suffered in 2016, limiting his snaps on offense and defense. When Milledge did play Brown likened him to a torpedo on defense during Dunbar's run to a 9-3 record that included a district title and a regional semifinal berth.

Milledge's defensive awareness continues to grow while his speed allows him to make up for mistakes made during the learning curve. He finished with 71 tackles and an interception last season.

The expectation is Brown will use him a lot more on offense this season, plugging him in at receiver, tailback and quarterback.

With a stacked team on paper, featuring all-county candidates all over the place on both sides of the ball, Milledge expects nothing less than a regional title from his team, something that has eluded the program throughout its history.

"It was always I this, I that," Milledge said. "Or you need to do this, you need to do that. No, we need to do this, we need to do that. We're a team."

That's part of the reason Milledge decided to lock in a verbal commitment to NC State so early in the process. He didn't want any distractions during the next two seasons.

The other reason had to do with the untimely deaths of athletes his age both in his community and over in South Florida the last few years coming as a result of violence.

The Dunbar native wanted his moment where he could commit on live television alongside his family because he knows tomorrow is never guaranteed.

"Sometimes life is short," said Milledge, who also has offers from Miami, West Virginia, North Carolina and Kentucky among others. "You've just got to go for it."

Milledge also spends a lot of his free time giving back to the youth of the Dunbar community by preaching the importance of physical activity. He frequently organizes football and basketball games for children to participate in and, at the same time, keep them out of trouble.

His goal for the future is to be in a position financially to give back to his community.

"If you can dream it, you can do it," Milledge said. "And I dream a lot."

The BIG 15The News-Press and Naples Daily News count down the top football recruits in Southwest Florida every Tuesday and Friday leading up to the start of high school football season. The Big 15 features players going into their junior and senior years from Lee and Collier counties, with respect paid to those with hard scholarship offers and those who possess great potential.