At an early age, Fitzgerald Bobo could have chosen to follow in his father's footsteps.

His dad, after all, was a standout basketball player who played for Duquesne University in the 1980s.

Instead, the younger Bobo, now a senior at Duquesne High School, will follow in the footsteps of guys like Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Bobo, a star wide receiver at Duquesne, has committed to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and will continue his athletic career with the football team there.

"I think when I started out, my dad sort of wanted to see me play basketball," said Bobo, who also is a forward with the Dukes basketball team.

"But he never really pushed me that way. He let me make my own decisions.

"When I played football for the first time, I fell in love with it and I have decided to stick with it. My dad pretty much left that choice to me."

As Bobo fell in love with football, the Miami coaches fell in love with him. A 6-foot-4 1/2, 200-pound athlete who has been clocked 4.55 seconds in the 40-yard dash,

Bobo has been projected by college coaches as a big receiver who can get down field and use his body and hands to make plays against the defensive coverages he will see.

"He can do everything they need him to do," Duquesne coach Pat Monroe said

"He's a big kid but he has great hands and great pass-catching skills. He runs excellent routes and he's a very intelligent kid, very disciplined in what he does. He'll grasp the things they want him to do pretty quickly."

While Bobo may grasp them quickly, it may be a while before he puts what he learns into play. He has discussed taking a redshirt his freshman year but says that matter is still in discussion with Miami coaches.

"We've talked a little about that and I might do it," he said. "I don't know yet. We'll see how it goes.

"I want to play as soon as I can, but it might end up that a redshirt is better for my first year.

"It might help me get adjusted to being there. We haven't decided on that yet."

Monroe said one of the other things that made Bobo an attractive recruit was his mental toughness. Duquesne's foes this season, realizing he was a significant threat, often set up their coverages to try to take him away from the offense. That sometimes meant double teams and bracket coverages designed to prevent him from getting open.

As a result, Bob caught 22 passes for 300 yards and four touchdowns this season, comparatively modest statistics for a Division I recruit. But the fact that he kept his head and did not let the defensive coverages frustrate him caught the eye of a number of recruiters.

His unselfishness, Monroe said, helped open up the Dukes' running game and helped the offense in ways beyond his ability to catch passes.

"It wasn't really frustrating for me," Bobo said. "I didn't have the stats that I might have liked, but I knew I was helping the team.

"I know it helped our running game and gave us a lot of other opportunities, so it really wasn't that bad."

Bobo chose Miami over West Virginia, Cincinnati and Temple. He said he was drawn to Miami because it felt like home.

"I felt really comfortable there with the coaches and all," he said. "They seemed like they really wanted me and some of the players I met there on my official visit reminded me of some of my guys here, so it felt kind of like home.

"The academics there are really good, too. I just felt like it was the right place for me."