Miami adds another out-of-state linebacker commitment to keep up recruiting momentum

The Miami Hurricanes’ linebackers group for the Class of 2020 is coming together. Less than three weeks after Corey Flagg committed to Miami, Tirek Austin-Cave followed the fellow middle linebacker in orally committing to the Hurricanes.

Austin-Cave, who officially visited Miami last month, announced his pledge on Twitter on Thursday.

Austin-Cave’s announcement comes on the heels of two other official visits in June with the West Virginia Mountaineers and Minnesota Golden Gophers. The senior also planned to officially visit the Syracuse Orange at one point.

A three-star inside linebacker in the 247Sports.com composite rankings, Austin-Cave possesses most of the traits coach Manny Diaz, who previously was the Hurricanes’ linebackers coach, looks for at linebacker. Austin-Cave’s speed, in particular, is rare for a middle linebacker.

The 6-foot-1, 203-pound linebacker is also a track and field standout at Camden in New Jersey. At the New Balance Games in January, Austin-Cave ran a personal best of 6.57 seconds in the 55-meter dash, which puts him just a bit behind some nationally elite times.

On the field, Austin-Cave’s speed translated. The athlete anchored the Panthers’ defense on the way to a 10-win season, racking up 162 total tackles, 13 1/2 tackles for loss, one sack, one forced fumble and three passes defended while also contributing as a running back.

With the additions of Flagg and Austin-Cave, Miami is handling linebacker recruiting in the 2020 class similarly to how it handled the position in the Class of 2016, when the Hurricanes landed linebackers Shaquille Quarterman and Michael Pinckney to lock down the position for four years. Both Quarterman and Pinckney were classified as inside linebackers by recruiting services, and the primary criticisms of both centered upon their relative lack of size. Quarterman finished the recruiting cycle as a four-star prospect, but Pinckney finished outside the top 500.

Both Quarterman and Pinckney — plus striker Zach McCloud — will be seniors in 2019, so the Hurricanes are looking for their next generation of starters at the position. Miami’s list of backups is presently crowded with injury concerns, untested underclassmen and players who changed position.

Currently, neither Flagg nor Austin-Cave are top-500 prospects, but the Hurricanes are more enamored with the production of both players and their side-to-side quickness than they are worried about some physical shortcomings.

This story was originally published July 4, 2019 at 3:07 PM.