Champagnat safety Jalen Harrell after Miami visit: ‘They’re definitely at the top.’
There was only one real reservation Jalen Harrell had about the Miami Hurricanes heading into his official visit with the hometown school over the weekend. The Hialeah Champagnat Catholic defensive back wasn’t sure what exactly Miami envisioned for him at the next level.
Schools have recruited Harrell at all manner of positions in the secondary. Some view him as a cornerback. Some consider him a safety. The Florida State Seminoles, to whom Harrell was orallly committed until last month, liked him as a defensive back capable of playing multiple spots.
The Hurricanes have a different sort of plan, though. Harrell could wind up at safety, but Miami is also pitching the four-star safety on playing striker.
“My biggest concern was what they’re going to use me as,” Harrell said after a Champagnat practice Wednesday at Curtis Park in Miami. “We broke it down in the boardroom. I felt a lot better.”
With his one big question answered, Harrell doesn’t hesitate about placing the Hurricanes as the frontrunner in his newly open recruitment.
“They’re definitely at the top,” Harrell said.
Harrell is a player Miami has had its eye on for years. Safeties coach Ephraim Banda first started recruiting Harrrell when the defensive back was a freshman at Mater Academy Charter. The Hurricanes finally offered him in January when he was at Central, but Florida State was far more aggressive in pursuing him, so he orally committed to the Seminoles in April.
Miami finally circled back in the fall and, with the Hurricanes’ newfound interest, Harrell decommitted from Florida State in October. Just days after he backed off his pledge, Harrell was out in Miami Gardens to watch the Hurricanes’ loss to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Hard Rock Stadium.
He was initially caught a little bit off guard that cornerbacks coach Mike Rumph wasn’t the one recruiting him, considering corner has been his primary position throughout most of high school. Miami, however, liked the idea of his 6-foot-2, 180-pound frame at safety. If he bulks up even more, Harrell could be a logical fit at striker, following a similar path to Gilbert Frierson.
Like Harrell, Frierson was mostly a cornerback at Coral Gables, and was 6-1 and 185 pounds when he finished high school. The redshirt freshman moved to striker in the offseason, is up to 204 pounds and is the early frontrunner to succeed striker Romeo Finley as the starter in 2020.
Assistant director of recruiting DeMarcus Van Dyke explicitly compared Harrell to Frierson on the visit.
hH was telling me that Gilbert wanted to play corner when he first got there,” Harrell said, “and he was saying that after a year he was like, Nah, I’m good with safety and striker.”
Even though he has Miami as his favorite, Harrell doesn’t plan to make a commitment until next month. The senior has an official visit lined up with the Central Florida Knights for the weekend of Nov. 29. He wants to give Central Florida a fair shake before he makes any decision.
“I’ll give them the same opportunity,” Harrell said.
Although he likely won’t be able to early enroll, Harrell plans to sign in the early signing period next month and the Hurricanes’ midseason turnaround has weighed on him.
Harrell grew up rooting for Miami, so he had fondness for the Hurricanes even when they were struggling. After watching Miami’s 52-27 rout of the Louisville Cardinals in person Saturday and spending a few days around the team, he’s even more excited about the direction of the program.
“I’ve always been a big fan of Miami, but you can see that everyone’s buying into what [Manny] Diaz is saying,” Harrell said. “They’re basically coming together now.”
