Palmetto’s Robby Washington ready to sign, early enroll at Miami. ‘I’m coming in to start’
Robby Washington finished out his high school career Friday with the sort of performance he made commonplace. The four-star wide receiver grabbed nine receptions and turned them into 99 yards in Palmetto’s season-ending 28-0 loss to Columbus in the Region 4-Class 4M semifinals — a rare combination of volume and explosiveness in the slot.
He was, of course, frustrated at the end of his final game for the Panthers, but he felt mixed emotions as he lingered for a little while on the field at Miami’s Tropical Park: The next time he suits up for a football game, it’ll be for the Miami Hurricanes, as part of their vaunted Class of 2023.
“It’s exciting because I’m ready to go to the next level and become a big impact for the Miami Hurricanes,” said Washington, who’s the No. 157 overall prospect in the 247Sports composite rankings for the 2023 recruiting.
The 5-foot-10, 185-pound wideout is one of 10 blue-chip players — so far — slated to join Miami in the 2023 recruiting cycle and he plans to sign his national letter of intent with the Hurricanes next month during the early signing period, ready to early enroll at Miami at the start of 2023.
After a brief flirtation with the Louisville Cardinals in the summer, Washington and three-star linebacker Bobby Washington, his twin brother, shut down their recruitments in August and fully locked in with the hometown Hurricanes.
It also quickly become evident how big a deal the receiver will be to his new team. Miami is averaging just 235.5 passing yards per game this year, and badly missing former wide receivers Mike Harley and Charleston Rambo. The Hurricanes don’t have a single receiver on pace to crack even 500 yards in the regular season.
Washington is one of two four-star wide receivers committed to Miami’s 2023 class, along with Edison’s Nathaniel Joseph, and he’s headed to Coral Gables with an eye on early playing time.
“I’m not coming in to be friends with any of the guys that have been there,” Washington said. “I’m coming in to start.”
Cristobal is proving this year it can be a real possibility. In their 40-10 loss to the Clemson Tigers on Saturday, the Hurricanes started five freshmen, including four on offense. Washington spent the last two weekends watching quarterback Jacurri Brown start less than a year after arriving in South Florida and saw tight end Jaleel Skinner do the same last week after catching a touchdown the week prior.
In total, 13 underclassmen started for Miami in Clemson, South Carolina, and the youth movement hasn’t gone unnoticed by Washington.
“We’re all going to be doing big things because I expect all my freshmen in the 2023 class to come in to play,” he said. “We need to come in, be ready, be physical, hit the weight room like we’re supposed to and we’re going to be on the field.”
Although the class finally experienced some attrition Nov. 11 when elite quarterback Jaden Rashada flipped his oral commitment from the Hurricanes to the Florida Gators, Miami’s 2023 haul remains ranked in the top 10. It’s a shocking feat of stability given the Hurricanes might not even qualify for a bowl game in Cristobal’s debut season and Washington readily admits he’s not sure how it has happened.
He does have a theory, though.
“I don’t really know,” Washington said. “I’ve got a feeling like they want to make the crib great again like I want to make the crib great again.”
