Miami keeps stacking blue chips in the secondary. Now a four-star safety joins the class
The Miami Hurricanes have added a blue-chip safety to their already loaded group of defensive backs in the Class of 2022.
Markeith Williams, a four-star safety from Orlando Evans, orally committed to Miami on Wednesday, joining three other four-star defensive backs in the Hurricanes’ fast-growing 2022 recruiting class. Williams announced his commitment on his birthday, giving Miami its third four-star addition in the last two weeks.
Williams picked the Hurricanes over the Ohio State Buckeyes and Nebraska Cornhuskers after he officially visited the two Big Ten Conference programs in June. He took an unofficial visit to Coral Gables last month right after the dead period ended in the final days of July.
The 6-foot-1, 170-pound senior is the No. 17 safety in the 2022 class, according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings, and played most of last season with a cast on his hand after he broke his wrist in the first game of the season. He still finished Evans’ opener last year by leading the Trojans in tackles in their loss to Ocoee and played through his injury throughout the season.
Williams’ commitment is the first big recruiting win for outside linebackers coach Ishmael Aristide, who’s entering his first season as a position coach after spending the last few years in the Texas A&M Aggies’ recruiting office. Aristide has spent part of his childhood and has deep ties in the city — his father is the principal at Miami Northwestern — but he’s also an Evans alumnus and led the Hurricanes’ recruitment of Williams. Defensive backs coach Travaris Robinson also helped lure the defensive back to Miami.
With Williams in the fold, the Hurricanes keep adding to their best secondary haul since at least the Class of 2018. Miami secured a commitment from four-star cornerback Khamauri Rogers, and locked up four-star athlete Chris Graves and four-star cornerback Tre’Quon Fegans in July. The Hurricanes now hold commitments from four blue-chip defensive backs, including two — Rogers and Fegans — in the top 100 overall.
While Miami still doesn’t hold a single commitment from a player from South Florida, Williams now gives the Hurricanes a pair of in-state commits, joining Graves from Fort Myers Bishop Verot.
This story was originally published August 11, 2021 at 7:52 PM.
