Christine Sanders said UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel did all he could, chatting until the wee hours of the morning Wednesday to convince her son to stick with the Bruins.

It didn't work.

Billy Sanders, rated the 18th-best tight end recruit in the nation by ESPN, took one look at the University of Miami's depth chart and saw an opportunity.

And that is all his mother said he needed to see before faxing his letter of intent from his home in Phoenix to Coral Gables on Wednesday morning.

''Billy's been a tight end his whole life, since his dad started playing catch with him since he was 3,'' said Christine, whose husband, Bill, was a backup tight end with the New York Jets in the 1980s.

``It just so happened the tight end position at The U opened up, and Billy saw it as a better opportunity.''

Last season, coach Randy Shannon relied on a better opportunity to play to secure one of the nation's consensus top-five recruiting classes.

Filling key needs turned out to be the sales pitch this season. Although it didn't pay dividends late in the game with several of the nation's top recruits, it still helped the Hurricanes put together a 19-player class that is respected by most recruiting analysts as just outside of the top 10.

''We went out and filled some needs we needed for this football team. We're excited about this class,'' Shannon said.

``We felt we needed to get offensive linemen, we needed to get running backs. You have to look two years ahead, get guys who can get some good playing experience. We got two tight ends in this class, which is great. We're excited about it.''

THOSE WHO GOT AWAY

With the exception of Sanders (6-4, 235), Shannon and his staff kept the same class they built before the final two recruiting weekends in January.

The only loss? Monsignor Pace cornerback Kayvon Webster, who stunned UM when he decided to follow teammates Sterling Griffin and Derrick Hopkins to South Florida.

''I felt like at South Florida I'm going to have a bigger impact,'' said Webster, who had not informed UM coaches of his decision before announcing it.

``They don't have too many leaders on their team and I feel like I can go there and set the example.''

The Hurricanes took their shots at several top recruits: Under Armour All-American Peter White from Washington, St. Louis All-American defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson and Nassau (N.Y.) Community College offensive tackle Andrew Tiller.

But they all decided to stay close to home, choosing Maryland, Missouri and Syracuse, respectively.

The recruits UM did get -- which included five offensive linemen, five defensive linemen and four defensive backs -- made recruiting coordinator Clint Hurtt smile.

Hurtt, UM's defensive line coach, agreed with Shannon that the six recruits who enrolled at UM early -- cornerback Brandon McGee, running back Mike James, defensive tackle Curtis Porter, defensive end Olivier Vernon and former prep school offensive linemen Brandon Washington and Jermaine Johnson -- likely will be able to help out first.

''Guys coming in January will have a head start because they can be in the weight room with [Andreu] Swasey, learn new systems,'' Hurtt said. ``Being able to pick it up from them eyebrows up early is the biggest thing.''

Still, the players who are not coming in early are pretty good, too.

Shannon gushed about the athletic ability of Fort Pierce Westwood defensive tackle Luther Robinson, who made a late decision to stick with UM instead of going to UCF or Florida.

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