Miami will host multiple blue-chip South Florida targets for first game of Cristobal era
Of Florida’s so-called “Big 3” college football programs, the Miami Hurricanes will play the lowest-profile opening game this weekend, but they will still have several major recruiting targets in the stands Saturday in Miami Gardens.
Rueben Bain and Christopher Johnson — two of the Hurricanes’ top remaining targets left in South Florida for the Class of 2023 — both plan to be at Hard Rock Stadium at 3:30 p.m., when Miami kicks off the Mario Cristobal era by hosting the FCS Bethune-Cookman Wildcats.
While there are some other major targets headed elsewhere, it’s to be expected, given the Florida Gators’ meeting with the No. 7 Utah Utes on Saturday in Gainesville and the Florida State Seminoles’ trip up to New Orleans to face the LSU Tigers on Sunday.
The Hurricanes also will have every local committed prospect in attendance when they kick off the season. In total, they will host at least five four-star prospects, according to the 247Sports composite rankings for the Class of 2023.
Miami expected visitors for opener
- Rueben Bain, 4-star DL, Miami Central
- Nathaniel Joseph, 4-star WR, Edison (Miami commit)
- Tyler Williams, 4-star WR, Lakeland
- Robby Washington, 4-star ATH, Palmetto (Miami commit)
- Christopher Johnson, 4-star RB, Dillard
- Bobby Washington, 3-star LB, Palmetto (Miami commit)
- Frankie Tinilau, 3-star T, LaSalle (Miami commit)
Williams is the one out-of-nowhere name on this list — he hasn’t visited the Hurricanes since January — but Miami is still trying to add another wide receiver to this class and there’s an opening to get involved with Williams. The four-star wide receiver has one official visit left to use after visiting the Clemson Tigers, Georgia Bulldogs, Texas A&M Aggies and South Carolina Gamecocks in June.
Still, Bain is probably the most important player from this group to have in attendance, just because it’s good for the Hurricanes he’s not going anywhere else — namely, Louisiana for Florida State-LSU. The Seminoles are the main in-state challenger here, along with the Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn Tigers and Oklahoma Sooners.
This story was originally published September 2, 2022 at 3:33 PM.
