The 5 biggest South Florida signing day stories, from Miami to... Western Carolina?

By David Wilson

Updated December 21, 2022 7:45 AM

The state championships are all wrapped up and, once again, South Florida took the opportunity to remind everyone about its superiority.

Is it any wonder college coaches from all across the country will have their eyes fixed on the region when early signing period begins Wednesday?

The pathway to success in college, particularly for teams across the Southeastern United States, often runs at least somewhat through Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, and this week will finalize who fared best in the Class of 2023.

To find a winner, no need to look far.

Miami Central’s Rueben Bain (4) battles American Heritage’s Ben Diaz (65) in the second quarter during the 2022 FHSAA State Championships-Class 2M at DRV PNK Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale on Friday, December 16, 2022. Al Diaz adiaz@miamiherald.com

1. Miami reclaims South Florida.

At least one part of the promise of coach Mario Cristobal has been fulfilled: The Miami Hurricanes are recruiting at an elite level again, with the No. 3 class in the 2023 recruiting cycle, according to the 247Sports composite rankings, and 16 blue-chip prospects among their 25 total commits.

Although their three five-star players come from outside Miami’s traditional recruiting footprint, the Hurricanes still built a potential top-five recruiting class by owning their home turf.

Miami has eight ranked South Floridians committed going into the early signing period — double any other school from a Power 5 conference.

Now, this isn’t exactly unusual. The Hurricanes usually sign more players from here than anyone else. What’s different is the caliber of player Miami is adding this year. Seven of the Hurricanes’ eight commits are four-star recruits, which means 41.2 percent of all the committed South Floridians are currently pledged to Miami.

Even if they don’t add another player from the region this week, the Hurricanes will still end up with 35 percent of all the region’s blue-chip recruits from the 2023 recruiting class and they might not be done.

2. Where will Damari Brown go?

In the last five years or so, no high school has done a better job of producing NFL-caliber cornerbacks than Plantation American Heritage, so it’s not surprise the biggest remaining recruiting battle is over Damari Brown.

The four-star American Heritage cornerback is a Miami legacy — Selwyn Brown, his father, was a defensive back there in the 1980s — but the Alabama Crimson Tide, which plucked Patrick Surtain II out of Plantation in the Class of 2018 and Earl Little Jr. in the Class of 2022, wants to continue their Patriots pipeline, too.

Although Alabama holds the bulk of the predictions in the 247 Crystal Ball, Brown could go either way Wednesday and will make his decision at 3:15 p.m. on ESPN2. The Florida State Seminoles also made a run at the 6-foot-1, 180-pound defensive back, but this will ultimately come down to the Hurricanes and Crimson Tide, and a win for Miami would be a statement from Cristobal about how significant a wall he has built around Dade and Broward.

Two other blue-chip recruits remain undecided into the early signing period: four-star Gulliver Prep cornerback Daniel Harris and four-star St. Thomas Aquinas linebacker Jayvant Brown.

3. Will anyone flip?

The other way Cristobal could make a major statement would be by springing a major flip and he certainly has been trying hard for one.

The Hurricanes never gave up on trying to pry five-star American Heritage wide receiver Brandon Inniss from the Ohio State Buckeyes, and stayed on five-star Stranahan wide receiver Hykeem Williams long after he committed to Florida State, as well as four-star Miami Central linebacker Stanquan Clark after his commitment to the Louisville Cardinals.

Their best shot, however, might be with four-star safety Conrad Hussey, who headed down to Coral Gables for an official visit just days after winning the Class 3M championship with the Raiders on Thursday. The 6-foot, 190-pound defensive back orally committed to the Penn State Nittany Lions in March, yet never totally shut down his recruitment, and took official visits to both Tallahassee and Miami this month.

American Heritage wide receiver Brandon Inniss returns a kick off against Chaminade-Madonna during the first half on Friday, Sept. 16, 2022 in Hollywood. John McCall South Florida Sun Sentinel

4. A quiet year for powerhouses

If the Hurricanes beat out Alabama for Brown and Hussey flips from Penn State, it will only further solidify an interesting trend for this year.

The out-of-state recruiting powerhouses, at least for one recruiting cycle, did not raid the tri-county area like they usually do.

The Crimson Tide enter the signing period without a single blue-chip commit from Dade, Broward or Palm Beach. The same is true for the Clemson Tigers, Georgia Bulldogs, Texas A&M Aggies and Michigan Wolverines. Aside from the Hurricanes, the Seminoles and Nittany Lions are the only team with multiple blue-chip commits right now, and the only Power 5 schools with more than two commits are Louisville and the Oregon State Beavers. Not even Florida State or the Florida Gators have more than two players committed so far.

Truly, the Cardinals fared the best of all the out-of-state teams this year, poised to land Clark, three-star Avant Garde Academy wide receiver William Fowles, three-star Northwestern cornerback Rayquan Adkins and three-star Central wide receiver Cataurus Hicks. The only top-100 recruits set to leave Florida are Inniss to Ohio State and four-star Gulliver wide receiver Jalen Brown to the LSU Tigers.

5. FAU wins G5 recruiting wars

Miami is No. 1 in sheer number of commits with eight and then its two schools from the Group of 5 conferences.

The FIU Panthers already have seven commits, followed by the FAU Owls with five.

FAU, however, gets the edge in the 2023 recruiting cycle. Three of its five commits rank higher than any of FIU’s seven.

Three-star St. Thomas Aquinas running backs Xavier Terrell and Gemari Sands head up the Owls’ class, while three-star Norland safety Jamari Holliman leads the Panthers’ group.

Two other Group of Five schools hold three commitments: The Temple Owls, whose class is led by three-star Homestead wide receiver Richard Dandridge; and Central Michigan, whose class is led by three-star Jackson wide receiver Shatavious Hogan.

The FCS Western Carolina Catamounts also deserve a shout out: They have four ranked players committed, including three-star Western wide receiver Santana Fleming, who will play in the Under Armour All-America Game next month.