The Spartans' football recruiting class just got a little bit bigger - literally.

On Monday, offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland received news of the Spartans' 25th commitment for the 2004 recruiting class: Offensive tackle Jesse Miller of Somerville High School in New Jersey.

The 6-foot-6, 275-pound Miller was hosted by William Whitticker when he visited East Lansing last weekend. Miller said his overall impression of MSU was great.

"It's real nice, and very big," Miller said. "I thought (Head Coach John L.) Smith was nice, and he's a funny guy."

Miller informed Somerville head coach Kevin Carty of his desire to become a member of the Spartans when the two met in Carty's office after the campus visit to talk about Miller's options.

Recruited by offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, Miller said he likes the bond they've formed.

"I like him a lot," Miller said. "He came to my school a couple of times to check up on me."

Carty said Stoutland has been influential in making Miller feel comfortable coming to MSU.

"Stoutland really wanted Jesse, and he did a great job recruiting him," Carty said. "He showed enough interest in Jesse to get him excited about MSU."

In his sophomore year of high school, Miller was academically ineligible to play football because of poor grades he received his freshman year.

"He was simply lazy in the classroom," Carty said. "And he's a smart kid; he just wasn't applying himself."

Since that time, though, Miller has since made strides to improve his grades - he scored a 1080 on his SAT - and his physical abilities.

This season, Somerville had a rough 4-6 season, but Miller proved he had great potential. He was named all-area, all-conference and all-county and was sought after by more than 20 schools, including Buffalo, Toledo and Temple.

Carty said Miller deserves all the recognition he has received.