Where Miami stands with Monsignor Pace 5-star DL Shemar Stewart after 3 visits in 2 weeks
Shemar Stewart walked out of the Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility on Sunday tossing a penalty flag in his hands and laughing with some of his Miami Gardens Monsignor Pace teammates.
His teammates went all the way to the championship game of the 7-on-7 tournament at the Manny Diaz Football Camp — before losing on the final play to Doral Academy in a controversial finish — and Stewart spent the entire day watching. He stood on the sideline with DeMarcus Van Dyke — a Miami Gardens Monsignor Pace alumnus, who was particulary fired up about the Spartans’ run. He hung out with Kahlil Brantley and James Williams. The five-star defensive lineman, of course, also spent time talking with Jess Simpson.
At the end of the day, the Miami Hurricanes even gave him the honor of presenting “the referee’s Heisman,” as David Cooney dubbed it — a trophy of a football player with his torso painted in alternating black and white stripes, which the director of recruiting lightheartedly awarded to the player or quality control coach who was the camps’ best referee. Stewart dashed over the “ceremony,” handed the trophy to Danny Kalter and posed for a photo with the special teams quality control analyst, who gave Stewart his flag as a keepsake.
“Of course it’s a big honor,” Stewart joked as he left the camp.
It was just another reminder of why Miami feels good about potentially landing the five-star defensive lineman as the jewel of its Class of 2022.
Stewart’s trip to Coral Gables this weekend was his third in the first 13 days since the 15-month dead period ended June 1. Stewart was on campus for the Hurricanes’ “First Day Out” cookout June 1, then returned the next day to hang out with Brantley and Williams on June 2. After taking his official visit with the LSU Tigers last weekend and attending the Under Armour Future 50 camp Saturday, Stewart was back at Miami on Sunday.
Stewart also camped with the FIU Panthers last Monday and the Ohio State Buckeyes on Wednesday.
“My team’s out here,” Stewart said, “so it’s only right if I’m out here, too.”
Stewart didn’t work out at the Future 50 because he tweaked his knee and he didn’t work out at the camp Sunday, either, so he instead day alternately chatting with Hurricanes players and coaches, and rooting on his teammates. He also got to talk with Fort Myers Bishop Verot cornerback Chris Graves, who had an individual workout with Van Dyke and defensive backs coach Travaris Robinson.
Like Stewart, Graves was on his third Miami visit in 13 days. The Hurricanes are the early favorite to land both, according to the 247Sports.com Crystal Ball.
Stewart, who’s the No. 7 overall prospect in the 247Sports composite rankings for the 2022 recruiting class, said the number of visits this month has helped change his opinion of the Hurricanes and Miami feels optimistic about where it stands in the Under Armour All-American’s recruitment.
“Of course,” Stewart said. “The culture is definitely changing more. They’re more hard on their players to get where they want to be in the future.”
The message from Simpson and the Hurricanes, he said, is simple.
“He just keeps telling me, We need you,” the 6-foot-5, 260-pound defensive end said. “He said I can be their missing piece that they need.”
Stewart followed his latest Miami visit by heading to Gainesville for an unofficial visit with the Florida Gators. The senior also has unofficial visits lined up with the Florida State Seminoles, Clemson Tigers, South Carolina Gamecocks and Georgia Bulldogs before a new dead period begins June 28.
Stewart’s still in no rush to make a commitment, he said, targeting National Signing Day to make an announcement. He’s saving his other four official visits for the season and the Hurricanes will almost certainly get one.
With a decision still potentially almost eight months away, Stewart has visited Miami far more than any other school and it’ll probably stay this way until he makes his commitment. It’s still early in his process, but Stewart is impressed by what Diaz is building.
“He’s an amazing guy. He’s an amazing coach,” Stewart said. “I think he’s building something special here.”
This story was originally published June 14, 2021 at 12:36 PM.
