Chaminade-Madonna’s Edwin Joseph keeps adding new offers, but Miami is still in the mix
.JPG "Chaminade-Madonna wide receiver Edwin Joseph (2) runs with ball after a catch while guarded by Miami Northwestern defensive back Kamron Brantley (28) during a high school football game at Nathaniel Traz Powell Stadium in Westview, Florida, on Saturday, September 10, 2022.")
The Miami Hurricanes have Cormani McClain in the fold for their Class of 2023, but it isn’t keeping Edwin Joseph from feeling wanted by his hometown team.
Joseph, a two-way star at Chaminade-Madonna, still has Miami firmly in the mix in his recruitment, even as new scholarship offers seem to pile up by the week and the Hurricanes’ recruiting class keeps growing, particularly in the secondary.
“We’re still talking,” said Joseph, who’s being recruited by Miami as a cornerback. “No matter what, they’ve still been keeping in touch with me. ... We’re getting closer and closer still. Nothing’s changed.”
At the same time, his options keep swelling. The Oklahoma Sooners became the latest high-profile program to join his recruitment when they offered him on Halloween and the Florida State Seminoles, Louisville Cardinals, Auburn Tigers, South Carolina Gamecocks, Penn State Nittany Lions and Michigan Wolverines are all involved to some degree, too.
Joseph took an official visit to Penn State in September, another to Louisville over the weekend and is working on setting one up with Auburn, perhaps for this coming weekend. It’ll leave him with two official visits left to use, but he’s not in a rush to use them.
The 6-foot, 178-pound senior knows there’s a good chance the Lions will be playing deep into December — they’re the massive favorites in Class 1M and No. 7 team in the country, according to MaxPreps — and a long playoff run wouldn’t leave him with much time to take visits before the early signing period. It means a final decision could wait until 2023, with nothing becoming official until national signing day.
Even though he’s only a three-star athlete in the 247Sports composite rankings, Joseph is proving he might be worth the wait for anyone.
At the start of the season, Joseph’s recruitment was small. The Nittany Lions were far and away the top team targeting him, and then there was mostly a drop off. A decision to start playing some defensive back on the 7-on-7 circuit coupled with a breakout final season in Hollywood, however, turned Joseph into one of South Florida’s breakout recruits of this year.
As a senior leader for youthful Chaminade-Madonna, Joseph has 29 catches for 491 yards and seven touchdowns as a wide receiver — plus six carries for 22 yards and a touchdown — and two interceptions as a corner.
“I really showed what I can do on both sides of the ball,” Joseph said. “A lot of coaches are opening their eyes for that. It’s really great just playing both sides of the ball, no matter what game, going against the best.”
There’s still a pretty even split of where college coaches envision Joseph playing, he said: Some like him as a receiver, others in the secondary and another contingent is content to figure it out once he gets to campus.
Joseph himself doesn’t have much of a preference. His decision will mostly come down to relationships and the plan coaches lay out for him.
“It definitely is hard, but you’ve just got to focus on who really wants and needs you, and not only on the field, but off the field. What are they going to do for you off the field, after football? Because football’s not guaranteed,” Joseph said. “It’s really just focusing on who’s got the best connection with you, who you’re closer with, the depth chart, who’s going to be there. There’s bigger things than just the name of the school. It’s really who your coaches are.”
