Here’s why fans should thank Xavier Restrepo for one of UM’s biggest recruiting wins
Deerfield Beach mostly knew what to expect from Xavier Restrepo when he stepped on campus as a transfer ahead of this season.
The unassuming, 5-10 athlete couldn’t catch the Bucks off guard after he threw a touchdown against them on the first play of a game when he was with St. Thomas Aquinas in 2018. Jaylan Knighton and Deerfield Beach knew they was getting a potential star.
Knighton didn’t know he was also getting one of the Miami Hurricanes’ most effective recruiters. Restrepo orally committed to Miami in May and his next goal was obvious: Get Knighton to follow him.
“Since he came here,” the four-star all-purpose back said Monday in Deerfield Beach, “he’s been trying to get me to UM.”
For a while, it seemed like the mission had failed. Knighton committed to the Florida State Seminoles in July, but Restrepo’s — and running backs coach Eric Hickson’s — quest wasn’t over. The three-star athlete kept making his case to Knighton and when Florida State fired former coach Willie Taggart, Knighton had an obvious new destination in mind.
The Under Armour All-American publicly announced a pledge to the Hurricanes on Thanksgiving. He’ll take his official visit to Coral Gables this weekend and sign his National Letter of Intent on Wednesday. Next month, the No. 103 overall player in the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the Class of 2020 will finally join Miami and the Hurricanes will largely have Restrepo to thank.
“I appreciate him for that because I promise you without him just being in my ear a lot,” Knighton said, “it probably would’ve threw me off to another school coming into my ear about that.”
Knighton’s commitment is a testament to Miami’s persistence on all levels. Restrepo was persistent at the closest ground level and Hickson was persistent from his own angles. The running backs coach actually first made contact with Knighton when he was the running backs coach of the Kansas State Wildcats.
Realistically, there was no way Knighton was ever going to go to Kansas State. Hickson, though, his from Broward County. He knew the relationship was an important one to have.
“[He] knew he didn’t have a shot at Jaylan,” Bucks coach Jevon Glenn said, “but he would always check in on him.”
This was even when Knighton was committed to the Oklahoma Sooners, a decision he made last year and backed away from in January just a few days after Hickson visited him for the first time as a Hurricanes assistant coach. This was even after Knighton picked the Seminoles and Miami could have looked at other blue-chip running backs in South Florida. Knighton was always the running back the Hurricanes wanted to pair with four-star Belen Jesuit running back Donald Chaney Jr., so Hickson made sure to let him know Miami would always be an option. He always acted as if Knighton would one day play for him.
“He always said, ‘I’m going to be your coach.’ He never stopped saying it,” Knighton said. “Even when I was committed to Florida State, he always said, I want to be your coach.’”
A commitment to the Hurricanes didn’t become inevitable until after he decommitted from the Seminoles. Knighton didn’t grow up a Miami fan. Rodney Knighton, his father, played for the Louisville Cardinals and Knighton grew up rooting for Florida State. The Hurricanes weren’t No. 1 on his list until November.
For the Hurricanes, Hickson’s persistence paid off to build perhaps the best running backs class in the country.
“He never gave up. He texted me every single day, going over different plays that I did, breaking down my film,” Knighton said. “There was a lot Coach Hickson did that other coaches didn’t do.”
This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 12:10 PM.
