More from Miami’s big recruiting weekend: Hurricanes make moves with out-of-state DBs
The Miami Hurricanes are hard at work trying to rebuild their secondary after a few underwhelming recruiting classes at cornerback, and they made it a priority for their first official-visit weekend of the 2022 recruiting cycle.
Miami hosted three defensive backs over the weekend — all from outside South Florida — to try to make an early impression with some recruits at a major position of need.
Four-star cornerback Trequon Fegans, the No. 75 overall prospect in the 247Sports.com composite rankings, came down from Oxford, Alabama.
Three-star athlete Chris Graves, who’s being recruited as an athlete, came across the state from Fort Myers. Three-star safety Jordan Allen, who could wind up at either corner or safety, also came down from Lafayette, Louisiana.
For Graves, it was the second visit in less than a week — he also attended the “First Day Out” cookout last Tuesday. For Fegans and Allen, it was an important chance to get a first real look at Miami.
Both defensive backs said the visit helped the Hurricanes’ chances.
“When I first got on campus, it automatically felt like home,” Allen said. “That’s one thing I can say. They did a good job of making me feel like home. They didn’t really pressure me into doing anything, like to commit or anything like that. They were just laid-back and just talking real to me.”
Safety Jalen Harrell hosted Allen on the official visit, and cornerbacks coach DeMarcus Van Dyke and defensive backs coach Travaris Robinson both spent a lot of time with the senior.
At 6-foot and 182 pounds, Allen played both cornerback and free safety for Lafayette Christian Academy last year, and earned all-state honors from MaxPreps.com while helping Lafayette Christian win a state title.
Allen, who also took an unofficial visit to Miami when he was a freshman, said the Hurricanes value his versatility.
“I can play more than one position, and I’m not like a one-trick pony or nothing like that,” said Allen, who’s the No. 30 safety in the 2022 recruiting class. “To hear that from that coaching staff really put it into my mind that I can play here early and make an impact.”
The rest of Allen’s month will be busy. He’ll have an official visit with the Louisville Cardinals this weekend, then the Penn State Nittany Lions and Tennessee Volunteers the next two.
The Georgia Bulldogs and Ole Miss Rebels are also in the mix, and Allen unofficially visited the LSU Tigers on Wednesday, although the in-state program has yet to offer him a scholarship.
After June wraps up, the safety will have a better idea of where his recruitment stands, but Miami made a good first impression.
“It was great,” Allen said. “The coaches really made me feel like I was at home. They talked to me about how I fit into the program and they really did a great job recruiting me.”
This story was originally published June 8, 2021 at 12:14 PM.
