Welcome to the Mileek McMillan era at Merrillville.

If that sounds strange to anyone watching the Pirates, who were ranked No. 1 in Class 4A for a good portion of last year, that's OK.

McMillan isn't sure what to think either.

“It's weird,” he said of his recent notoriety.

After averaging five points and eight rebounds last season, after being the fifth scoring option for the Pirates, McMillan was thrust into the spotlight in a way he never imagined after a monster summer.

Eastern Illinois, Missouri-Kansas City and Valparaiso all offered scholarships.

More were likely on the way if he held out, but McMillan was overwhelmed with the attention and signed a national letter of intent Tuesday with Valparaiso.

The last few months have been a blur.

McMillan arrived this summer after Bo Patton, an assistant for Merrillville, took him off the Illinois Wolves, an AAU team out of Chicago, and put him on Indiana Elite, an Indianapolis AAU team.

An impressive July caught the eyes of college scouts.

Merrillville coach T.J. Lux said the first time an EIU assistant saw him, he called the head coach and told him to come see McMillan right away.

He was that good.

EIU was the first to offer.

All buzz aside, McMillan is still a bit of a mystery to Lux.

Oh, Lux watched McMillan get infinitely better this summer. Lux knows that McMillan has added 30 pounds of muscle. He weighs 220, up from 190 last year.

Lux knows McMillan can run the floor and score inside.

Or step out and make a 3-pointer.

The problem is, he hasn't done it much in high school.

DJ Wilkins, Jairus Stevens, Cameron Wilbon and Marcel Cherry were — in no certain order — scoring options before McMillan. Wilkins and Stevens have graduated.

“Mileek has gotten a lot better,” Lux said. “Obviously, he is going to be more of a priority with Jairus and DJ gone.”

McMillan's story is a remarkable lesson in perseverance.

He was cut from the basketball team in seventh grade. He made the B team in eighth grade, and then missed his freshman year with an ankle injury.

He started about half the games on the JV, and then he started last year, but he wasn't the player teams scouted against.

McMillan had potential, but no one was sure how that would go until he started playing with Indiana Elite.

Patton said that was a game-changer.

“We knew if he got in the right situation, he was going to turn the corner,” Patton said. “He's been good since then (playing with Indiana Elite).”

McMillan's problem in middle school was his weight.

He was chubby. He has slowly grown into his body. McMillan was 6-foot-1 as a freshman and 5-8 in seventh grade. Lux said McMillan is 6-7 today without his shoes on.

Getting cut made a huge impact on him.

“I was crying, “ McMillan said. “My mom told me that if I really wanted to play, that I should keep trying.”

He heard her, working by himself to sharpen his skills.

The new McMillan, the full-blown version that most teams haven't seen yet, can play with his back to the basket, facing up, or he can step out and make 3-point shots.

Lux said McMillan is unselfish and concerned. He stretched out making his commitment to Valparaiso because coaches were stopping by to watch him play.

That allowed players like Wilbon and Johnny Bernard, a 6-3 guard, to get some looks.

Like everyone else, Lux is interested to see how the season unfolds with his big man.

Lux was once a coveted front court player at Merrillville before signing with Northern Illinois. He knows a little bit about what McMillan is going through.

“He has a very high ceiling,” Lux said of McMillan. “He is still growing into his body and he has developed quickly. He's got the physical ability. Now, he just has to figure out the mental part of it.”

Asked what his goals were, McMillan seemed puzzled.

“I'm not sure,” he said. “I'd most definitely like for us to win a championship.”

mhutton@post-trib.com

Twitter@MikeHuttonPT