Two high school players announce Miami decommitments within 24 hours
A few hours after University of Miami football coach Manny Diaz spoke in depth about his recruiting philosophies, the Hurricanes got their second decommit in as many days.
Monday morning, four-star Miami Northwestern receiver Marcus Fleming decommitted from the Hurricanes’ class of 2020, the day after three-star cornerback Daran Branch decommitted from UM’s 2020 class.
Branch, out of Amite High School in Louisiana, was actually viewed as a striker by the Hurricanes.
Miami hosted four-star Hialeah Champagnat Catholic safety Jalen Harrell for an official visit the weekend of Nov. 9 and also consider him a striker. Harrell said Wednesday the Hurricanes are the front-runner in his recruitment.
Fleming had been committed to Miami since 2018, but took an official visit with the Maryland Terrapins the weekend of Nov. 2 and spent this past weekend on an official visit with the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
The Hurricanes still hold a commitment from four-star Bradenton IMG Academy wide receiver Michael Redding III. And top target Dazalin Worsham, a four-star wide receiver from Alabama, is slated to make a commitment announcement Friday.
The three-day early signing period for high school football players runs from Wednesday, Dec. 18 through Friday, Dec. 20 this year.
The recruiting site 247Sports.com has Miami’s 2020 class ranked No. 17. Rivals.com has the Hurricanes’ 2020 class ranked No. 15.
“First, I’d like to thank my friends and family for supporting me on this decision, my coaches & teammates,’’ Fleming posted on social media. “This was a hard decision but it’s something I’ve thought overtime to do what’s better for me. I would like to thank the university of Miami for the opportunity and taking the chance on me but as of right now I am DE-COMMITTED from university of Miami. may the lord be with me through this journey...’’
Earlier Monday, Diaz spoke on the radio during his usual WQAM time slot, and was asked about recruiting as signing day approaches.
Rose asked Diaz if for him it’s more important to watch the players who have already orally committed or more important to watch the ones who “are still on the fence.’’
Diaz: “That’s a good question. It’s a little bit of both. There are times when you are truly getting an evaluation of whether they fit and you think they can play or not. And sometimes you’ve already made the evaluation. You know they can play and you’re there just to let them know you’re there and how important they are to you.
“And a lot of times when you go to the game you’re not just finding out whether they can play. You can find that out on film. You’re seeing what happens between the plays, what kind of teammate they are, do they have passion for the game? How do they handle when things go well? How do they handle when things don’t go well? [it’s] so important.”
Rose, regarding recruiting for Diaz: “Is it more about position or taking the best players out there even if it means you’ve already got a couple at the same position but he’s so damned good I’ve got to take him, too? How do you treat that?”
“You always are going to take the best class you can possibly take, and in a class this year with our numbers where we expect to sign every position in essence,’’ Diaz said. “So it’s not like we would not take an insert position here and then all of a sudden we will because this guy is just available.
“But there are positions for sure where...you think, ‘Listen, this guy is just an elite talent,’ and you would take him no matter what the number says. You always have to balance your roster to make sure you’re not too full in one class at one position... But yeah, there’s no doubt we’re trying to field the best football team that the University of Miami can field and you never pass down elite talent to do that.”
Rose then asked Diaz about UM’s recruiting process regarding other coaches and coordinators in helping make the final decisions, and what happens if he discovers players “coming on late’’ in their high school years.
“We have a whole process,’’ Diaz replied. “It goes right up the chain. We have a great recruiting department that is constantly watching everything that is going on. Then it goes to our assistant coaches. Then it goes to our coordinators. It goes to me.
“We sit there and we watch it as a group. I want to be in a group where guys are defending a guy, where all opinions are flushed out as to whether this guy is a take or not a take. You have to research academics, you have to research character... What is your passion for the game? There are guys that are talented but football can’t be a habit. You can’t like it. You gotta love it.
“So many of those things go into the evaluation, but one thing that is very important, and I’ve always believed this with recruiting down here, is the senior year has to matter. Because certain guys do develop at certain times.
“There are certain guys, because of how great some of the high school programs are down here, who didn’t start as sophomores or juniors because they might have had three guys who went to college at their position at their school the year before, so all of a sudden they pop on the scene. So yeah, you’re always evaluating to find the best class you can.”
This story was originally published November 18, 2019 at 11:23 AM.
