#GarciaToTheU: Miami lands elite quarterback prospect Jake Garcia on early signing day
Jake Garcia has been the Miami Hurricanes’ top target at quarterback for years now. They’ve finally landed their man.
Garcia orally committed to Miami on the first day of the early signing day Wednesday, signing his national letter of intent less than two weeks after he decommitted from the USC Trojans. The four-star quarterback announced his signing with a ceremony he streamed on Instagram Live.
The 6-foot-3, 195-pound senior is the No. 8 pro-style prospect in the country and the No. 46 player overall, according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings. He’s the third top-50 prospect in the Hurricanes’ Class of 2021, joining five-star prospects Leonard Taylor and James Williams, and the second highest-ranked quarterback prospect to ever commit to Miami behind Kyle Wright, who was the No. 3 overall player in the Class of 2003.
While Garcia hasn’t visited Coral Gables this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he made the trip to South Florida twice in 2019 and emerged as a top priority for the Hurricanes’ old offensive staff. Last year, he visited while Miami was hosting a 7-on-7 camp and threw for former offensive coordinator Dan Enos during a break in the action inside the Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility.
Williams, who wasn’t committed to the Hurricanes at the time, got to know Garcia on those visits and the safety made luring Garcia a priority. Last month, Williams said he still texts Garcia every day trying to convince him to join him at Miami.
About three months after Garcia visited the Hurricanes for the last time, he committed to USC and stuck with the Trojans for more than a year before he decommitted Dec. 3.
Garcia is originally from California and spent his first three years of high school playing in Southern California before he moved to Georgia this year to play while football season was postponed to 2021 in his home state because of the coronavirus pandemic.
He played at five high schools in four years, beginning at Long Beach Poly in California before transferring to Narbonne in Los Angeles, where he starred as a junior. He originally planned to play his senior season at La Habra in California before he transferred to Valdosta in Georgia. Garcia, however, was declared ineligible there and transferred to Grayson in Loganville, Georgia, to wrap up his career.
Garcia has played six games for the unbeaten Rams this season and gone 51 of 87 for 916 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions, plus two rushing touchdown. In one game for the Wildcats earlier this year, Garcia went 21 of 34 for 332 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Garcia was selected to play in the 2021 Under Armour All-American Game before it was canceled because of the COVID pandemic.
Garcia is the only quarterback committed to the Hurricanes’ 2021 recruiting class, which now ranks No. 10 in the nation. He’s the second quarterback offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee has helped lure to Miami following D’Eriq King, who transferred to the Hurricanes after a standout career for the Houston Cougars in January. If King heads to the NFL after this season, Garcia will join a wide-open competition at Miami, as quarterbacks N’Kosi Perry and Tyler Van Dyke battle to be King’s successor.
With the addition of Garcia, the Hurricanes currently hold 21 commitments in the 2021 recruiting cycle and 13 are either blue-chip prospects or All-Americans. Garcia is also only the third out-of-state player to commit to Miami in 2021. He’s on track to early enroll.
This story was originally published December 16, 2020 at 7:05 PM.
