Record-setting Central DE Rueben Bain wins Nat Moore Trophy as South Florida’s top player
The Nat Moore Trophy is now as old as Rueben Bain’s high school career, so he remembers first hearing about it as a freshman at Miami Central and setting it as a goal of his to win the trophy before he graduated.
He wrote it down as an objective on a dream board he keeps in his room and then, for four years, he did everything possible to make it an easy decision for voters.
On Tuesday inside Hard Rock Stadium, Bain finally heard his name called as the winner of the trophy, certifying his status as the best player in South Florida for the Class of 2023.
“It means a lot because now I’m solidified as the best player in South Florida,” the elite defensive lineman said Tuesday. “Once I seen that, I knew I was getting it.”
The win was made public Wednesday when the ceremony aired on WFOR-TV, Miami’s CBS affiliate.
Bain, who’s the No. 70 overall prospect in the 247Sports composite rankings for the 2023 recruiting class, beat out five-star Plantation American Heritage wide receiver Brandon Inniss, four-star Edison wide receiver Nathaniel Joseph and three-star Chaminade-Madonna athlete Edwin Joseph to win the third ever Moore Trophy and then he celebrated his victory by orally committing to the Miami Hurricanes in the Miami Gardens stadium he’ll call home for the next few years.
A celebration for Florida football turned into a celebration for Bain, who set Central’s single-season sacks record with 29 1/2 last year and now has 28 this season, along with 37 tackles for loss and 52 total tackles in 10 games.
He’s already three-time first-team all-county selection by the Miami Herald and a three-time state champion, and he’ll have a chance to make it four in a row Friday when Central faces American Heritage in the Class 2M championship at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
The Hurricanes beat out the Florida State Seminoles, Louisville Cardinals, Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers — but mostly Florida State — to land the four-star edge rusher’s commitment.
“I didn’t tell anyone so it’d be a big surprise, big secret,” Bain said. “Now everybody knows.”
Once he signs with Miami next Wednesday after the early signing period begins, Bain will be second Moore Trophy winner to land with the Hurricanes, joining running back Henry Parrish Jr., who won the inaugural trophy back in 2019 with Columbus and transferred to Miami in January after starting his career with the Ole Miss Rebels.
WFOR and the Miami Dolphins did not award the trophy in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Kenyatta Jackson, who was a star for the Lions and now is a defensive lineman for the Ohio State Buckeyes, won the trophy last year.
