Get to know Miami’s 2020 recruiting class: RB Don Chaney Jr. gives Canes a class leader
Don Chaney Jr. says his recruitment is over and the way he talks about the Miami Hurricanes, it’s easy to believe him
Chaney ultimately orally committing to Miami, which he did Feb. 3 at a junior day event, isn’t particularly surprising — the Hurricanes started recruiting the Belen Jesuit junior since before he was in high school and the four-star running back frequently cited the hometown team as the frontrunner in his recruitment — but the timing could be important. Chaney immediately becomes new coach Manny Diaz’s biggest recruiting win and the halfback provides an early centerpiece for a pivotal 2020 recruiting class.
“I’m done,” Chaney said at The Opening Miami regional Sunday when asked whether he’d take additional visits. “Miami is sealed tight.”
The No. 52 overall prospect in the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the Class of 2020, Chaney has a chance to finish the cycle as the top-ranked player in Miami-Dade County. He picked the Hurricanes despite heavy interest from Southeastern Conference teams like the Georgia Bulldogs and South Carolina Gamecocks, where his father played and former Miami running backs coach Thomas Brown now works. On Sunday at the Miami Dolphins Training Facility in Davie, Chaney landed an invitation to The Opening finals after winning running backs MVP at the regional, running a 40-yard dash in 4.55 seconds and notching a 39.2-inch vertical leap. If Diaz is going to actually build a proverbial wall around South Florida like he hopes, landing prospects like Chaney is a must.
Chaney is also the sort of player who can start momentum for Miami and its new coach on the recruiting trail. The same day Chaney pledged to the hometown team, South Dade three-star cornerback Jaiden Francois and Rockledge three-star athlete Ladarius Tennison joined him.
“It was like, We are on top. We will be on top eventually,” Chaney said. “We’re going to make them pay. We’re going to make everybody pay for they’ve done, what they’ve said about UM. All that’s going to be out of the way once we come in, once 2020 hits.”
As for his own decision, Chaney said he knew about a week ahead of his visit that he planned to commit. Chaney had a strong relationship with Brown and former coach Mark Richt, but his fondness for the Hurricanes wasn’t about the staff.
“It just felt like I was at home. Once I got there, I felt this feeling. I was like, I need to be here. I’ve got to be here no matter what and that’s what just set the trigger for me, basically,” Chaney said. “It’s not really about the coaches that make the program, it’s the players and knowing that I can make the program better, it’s a real great opportunity.”
Less than two weeks before Chaney’s latest trip to Coral Gables, Diaz joined new running backs coach Eric Hickson and new offensive line coach Butch Barry in visiting Chaney at his Miami high school.
Although Hickson hails from Broward County and recruited Florida for some of his previous schools, Chaney didn’t have a prior relationship with his future position coach. First impressions have been strong.
“He’s a pretty good change, knowing that there’s another great guy that’s going to be there in that position, knowing that this is a guy that I can trust, stuff like that,” Chaney said. “It’s a real strong bond from the start.”
Chaney has also gotten a chance to know new offensive coordinator Dan Enos, who could have a loaded stable of running backs to work with in coming years. If no one transfers or enters the NFL Draft early, Enos could have a stable of tailbacks to work with featuring DeeJay Dallas, Lorenzo Lingard, Cam’Ron Davis and Chaney, and Chaney wants to build the group up even bigger. The 5-11, 195-pound athlete is positioning himself as a vocal leader for the Hurricanes’ 2020 class and immediately mentioned Columbus three-star running back Henry Parrish as one of his top personal targets for the cycle.
Chaney is embracing competition, but he also has faith in Enos to potentially deploy a deep cache of weapons effectively.
“He’s a really intellectual guy, a very smart guy who knows what he’s doing,” Chaney said. “I’m grateful that he’ll be my offensive coordinator.”
This story was originally published February 18, 2019 at 11:44 AM.
