Miami Hurricanes land commitment from top-ranked center prospect in South Florida
The Miami Hurricanes are doing their best to lock down as many of South Florida’s top offensive linemen as possible in the Class of 2021 and now Ryan Rodriguez is rejoining the fold, too.
The Miami Columbus offensive lineman, who is the top-ranked center in Florida for the 2021 recruiting cycle, announced his commitment to the hometown team Monday on Twitter.
“I am proud to announce that I will be furthering my academic and athletic career at the University of Miami,” he wrote.
The No. 5 center in the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the 2021 class, Rodriguez was a first-team all-county selection by the Miami Herald last season. He was a key cog for Columbus on the way to its first state championship and helped pave the way for four-star running back Henry Parrish, who ran for more than 2,000 yards and signed a national letter of intent with the Ole Miss Rebels in February. After his breakthrough junior season, Rodriguez landed a scholarship offer from the Hurricanes in January. He ultimately picked Miami from a list of more than a dozen offers.
Miami quickly emerged as the favorite for the 6-foot-3, 250-pound offensive lineman. He attended a junior day in Coral Gables later in January, then he was one of the few prospects to actually attend a spring practice in March before the COVID-19 outbreak forced an unexpected -- and extended -- dead period. It also meant Rodriguez had to scrap planned unofficial visits with the Louisville Cardinals, Wake Forest Demon Deacons and LSU Tigers. At one point, Rodriguez thought the coronavirus pandemic might delay his decision, but he decided to commit to the Hurricanes on Tuesday, anyway.
After it went through the first month of virus-caused dead period without landing a single 2021 commitment, Miami has now added three new prospects in the last week. Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna defensive tackle Allan Haye committed to the Hurricanes on Wednesday, then Fort Myers Bishop Verot athlete Malik Curtis committed to Miami on Saturday.
Rodriguez’s commitment could wind up being one of the Hurricanes’ most important in the cycle. Although he sits outside the top 500 regardless of position, Rodriguez is the No. 1 center in Florida, the No. 2 offensive lineman in Miami-Dade County and the No. 4 offensive lineman in the entire Miami metropolitan area. The Hurricanes now hold commitments from the top two linemen in the county and three of the top four in the Miami metro area.
Laurence Seymore, a four-star guard from Miami Central and the top-ranked offensive lineman in the county, has been committed to the Hurricanes since 2018. Michael McLaughlin, a four-star tackle from Parkland Stoneman Douglas and the No. 1 tackle in the Miami area, committed to the Hurricanes last month. Clemson Tigers commit Marcus Tate, a four-star guard from Davie University and the No. 1 offensive lineman in the state, is the region’s only top-four offensive lineman not committed to the Hurricanes.
This story was originally published April 27, 2020 at 7:35 PM.
