Miami Hurricanes strengthen New York recruiting pipeline with another lineman commitment
The Miami Hurricanes’ budding New York pipeline keeps growing.
Jared Harrison-Hunte became the latest prospect from New York to join Miami’s recruiting class Friday when he made an oral commitment less than a week after taking his second official visit to Coral Gables. The three-star defensive tackle from Christ the King in New York, becomes the third player from the state in the Hurricanes’ 2019 class. Harrison-Hunte is a teammate of three-star tackle Adam ElGammal, who signed with Miami in the early signing period last month.
Although he’s only a three-star prospect, Harrison-Hunte had significant interest from a number of high-profile programs. The Penn State Nittany Lions and Ohio State Buckeyes were long considered to be among the front-runners to land the 6-foot-4, 286-pound defensive lineman, and the Alabama Crimson Tide was originally slated to host Harrison-Hunte for an official visit this weekend before he changed gears and made the trip to South Florida.
Harrison-Hunte announced his commitment in a ceremony at his school. He can sign his National Letter of Intent on National Signing Day on Wednesday.
The Hurricanes were able to bring Harrison-Hunte down to campus and sew up his commitment thanks to a new rule implemented by the NCAA. Prospects are ordinarily only allowed to visit each school once, but if a player took an official visit to a school, then the school made a coaching change, the player is allowed to take a second official visit to the same school. When former coach Mark Richt retired and Miami replaced him with coach Manny Diaz in late December, the Hurricanes became eligible to host prospects a second time.
The lineman first officially visited Miami last year, shortly before the early signing period when Richt was still in charge. He accompanied ElGammal and four-star defensive tackle Jason Blissett from Poly Prep Country Day in Brooklyn, but opted to hold off on signing until the traditional National Signing Day. The senior’s return trip to the Miami metropolitan area is Harrison-Hunte’s first official visit since his last visit with the Hurricanes.
Harrison-Hunte gives Miami another interesting developmental line prospect from New York. The Hurricanes have struggled to find a large cache of linemen from the Miami metro area, so they spent this cycle reaching up to the Northeast for players with high upside. Harrison-Hunte played only two years of football for the Royals — he was primarily a basketball player — and finished last season with 45 tackles and three sacks in eight games. He also contributed as a tight end in his two seasons with Christ the King.
Harrison-Hunte becomes the fifth defensive lineman in the Hurricanes’ class, joining four-star defensive end Jahfari Harvey, three-star defensive end Cameron Williams, four-star defensive tackle Jason Blissett and three-star defensive tackle Jalar Holley.