- May 7, 2026
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Pen hit paper March 2 in the gymnasium at Sarasota Christian School. Ben Milliken, sitting before a crowd of family and friends, scribbled his signature in ink.
His college destination had been decided, and with it, his recruitment came to a close — or so he thought.
Certainties are few and far between in today’s college football landscape. “Official” is a loose term, no longer carrying the meaning it once did.
The senior quarterback flipped his commitment to Furman on May 2, altering the outlook of his football future. Previously having signed with Southeastern University — an NAIA program — he’s now headed to the NCAA Division I FCS level.
“When they called me and said, ‘Hey, we have a spot we’d like to offer you,’ it was just something I couldn’t turn down,” Milliken said. “It was always a place I wanted to be.”
He set his sights on the Greenville, South Carolina-based university two years ago, making four visits. That interest continued through conversations with offensive coordinator Justin Roper and passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach Drew Dudzik.
But March rolled around, and he still didn’t hold an offer from the Paladins. There was another Division I FCS offer from William & Mary on the table, though not a committable offer, since he hadn’t been accepted to the school at that point.
Southeastern University seemed the best fit to Milliken. He felt convinced to sign.
One phone call from the program he held out hope for was enough to erase that.
“Things change, and it’s the ever-changing scope of college football,” Milliken said. “Southeastern was very understanding about it — I appreciated it — but it’s a business decision. You’ve got to do what’s best for you.”
With that move, the 6-foot-1 signal-caller became the first player in program history to take his talents to the Division I level.
There was no history of football at Sarasota Christian before he arrived.
The Blazers laid a foundation in 2022, playing their first season in Class AA of the then-Sunshine State Athletic Conference’s 8-man division. Freshmen and eighth-graders comprised their roster as they sought to build something from nothing.
Few people outside the program thought the team would win much. Sarasota Christian earned a 7-5 record that season and reached the SSAC AA 8-man state championship, while Milliken threw for 3,303 yards and 41 touchdowns as a freshman.
“He was good from the get-go,” said coach and Athletic Director Jacob Spenn. “It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, this guy could be a good quarterback.’ He was a good quarterback from day one.”
That was the year Milliken played his first snap of tackle football. Never before had he suffered a sack in the pocket or shed tackles to gain extra yardage when on the run.
He didn’t need to do either — his parents put him in non-contact alternatives up through middle school after he picked up the game at 4 years old. Seven-on-seven football and Under Armour flag football were the settings in which he developed his skills.
During those days, he threw to now-Cardinal Mooney senior wide receivers Mason Jordan and Bo O’Daniel, who have signed with Florida and Wagner, respectively.
Milliken carries gratitude for non-contact football, and recommends that route to any aspiring quarterback seeking the best means of development.
“The advantage of that was I had to pass every single play,” Milliken said. “If you watch a youth football game, they’re going to run the ball 20, 30 times a game because their arms aren’t developed. But that — there was no option — you’ve got to sit there and pass.”
Riverview High School was his preferred destination for a while. Unlike the Blazers, the Rams boasted an established football program competing in the Florida High School Athletic Association, having just reached the then-Class 8A regional semifinals in 2021.
Milliken, who grew up a “basketball-first kid,” was also interested in learning under the tutelage of Riverview boys basketball coach Rudy Fraraccio. But when Fraraccio stepped down after the 2021-22 season, Sarasota Christian boys basketball coach Kevin Bruinsma captured Milliken’s attention.
The then-rising freshman caught wind of news that Spenn was building the Blazers’ first football team, and all of a sudden, Riverview wasn’t so appealing anymore.
“I thought about leaving a legacy and starting something new here,” Milliken said. “There was something to be said for staying home and being local and being loyal to someone. That speaks a lot to somebody’s character.”
He now stands alone as the first and only starting quarterback Sarasota Christian has ever known. Every one of the school’s passing records belong to him.
The Blazers transitioned to 11-man football for 2024, and in the two seasons since, Milliken threw for a combined 4,650 yards and 59 touchdowns against 24 interceptions.
His high school career ended with 9,032 passing yards on 225.8 yards per game en route to 113 touchdowns. Plain and simple, he was whom the team counted on to win, Spenn said.
“There’s a lot of highly recruited quarterbacks that have never won a football game. They’ve been on the winning side,” Spenn said. “It’s a little bit different when you’re going to drop back 45 times in this game and everybody knows you’re going to throw the ball and everybody’s coming for you. That develops a different kind of player.”
That’s who Furman has gained. That’s who will step into Paladin Stadium, working to make a name for himself in the ever-crowded ranks of Division I football.
Milliken will always have his legacy at Sarasota Christian — a trailblazer, in every sense of the word.
