The Miami Hurricanes will try to expand their New York recruiting pipeline this weekend

Jason Blissett can’t help but think about the real possibility of he and three of his closest friends all making their way down from New York to join the Miami Hurricanes. The four-star defensive tackle from Poly Prep Country Day in Brooklyn never thought about playing for Miami until he visited Coral Gables for the first time. Since he committed to the Hurricanes in September he has been one of their most vocal recruiters.

Now he hopes a trip to Miami will have the same effect on two more of New York’s most intriguing Class of 2019 prospects. Blissett is heading back to South Florida this weekend for his official visit, and he will be joined by Jared Harrison-Hunte and Adam ElGammal.

“I’m extremely excited because I’m friends with literally every guy that they’ve offered out of New York, so it’s exciting to potentially have those friends for life come to college with me,” Blissett said Monday. “I just can’t really wait to see what they decide on.”

One of the most positive recruiting trends for the Hurricanes in an otherwise disappointing fall has been their ability to establish inroads in New York. Miami hosted Adisa Isaac for an official visit last month, and the four-star defensive end from Canarsie in Brooklyn is still considering the Hurricanes, even if the Penn State Nittany Lions seem to be the favorite. With Harrison-Hunte and ElGammal, Miami offered less than two weeks ago and already has both considering the Hurricanes strongly enough to line up officials.

The Miami metropolitan area has a real appeal to New Yorkers who want to find a school with a familiar city feel. Harrison-Hunte and ElGammal, both of whom attend Christ The King in Queens, will get to see how it compares this weekend.

Harrison-Hunte is the more high-profile prospect of the two. A three-star defensive tackle in the 247Sports.com composite rankings, Harrison-Hunte has taken official visits with the Arizona State Sun Devils, Ohio State Buckeyes and Penn State in the past month. The Tennessee Volunteers and Michigan State Spartans are also among his growing list of suitors.

ElGammal, meanwhile, committed to the Cincinnati Bearcats last month before the Hurricanes and Rutgers Scarlet Knights offered. The three-star tackle could also see his list of suitors grow.

What makes both intriguing is how unfamiliar they are with the sport. Harrison-Hunte and ElGammal were primarily basketball players before this year. They have the athleticism and frame — Harrison-Hunte is 6-4, 286 pounds and ElGammal is 6-5, 260 — without any bad habits ingrained.

“They’re both first-year players, so really they just don’t have bad habits to come along with them,” Blissett said. “Under the right coaching, they can do a lot of damage at a program, so they just have high ceilings pretty much.”

No matter what happens between now and National Signing Day — Isaac is an early enrollee, but Harrison-Hunte and ElGammal could both wait until next year to sign — Blissett could be the jewel of the New York class. The 6-4, 271-pound defensive lineman is No. 2 prospect in the state behind Isaac, and will give Miami some needed depth in the interior with defensive linemen Gerald Willis and Tito Odenigbo both set to graduate.

And Blissett is locked in even as some uncertainty lingers about Manny Diaz’s future with the Hurricanes. The defensive coordinator interviewed for the Temple Owls’ coaching vacancy earlier this week. Although Diaz returned to the recruiting trail Tuesday for in-home visits with four-star cornerback Te’Cory Couch and three-star defensive end Cameron Williams, Blissett said he had yet to hear from the assistant coach. Instead, defensive line coach Jess Simpson reached out to the senior.

“He’s reassured me that as of right now nothing has happened just yet,” Blissett said. “I’m not looking anywhere.”

This story was originally published December 12, 2018 at 9:45 AM.