Sam Bruce reaffirms Miami Hurricanes commitment
Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas four-star wide receiver Sam Bruce has been committed to the Miami Hurricanes for the past 18 1/2 months.
But all that matters is the school he signs with on National Signing Day in nine days. On Monday, Bruce reaffirmed one final time that it would indeed be UM on the Tony Sands Show on BBS Radio.
“The next three-four years, I will be playing football at the University of Miami,” Bruce said on the radio show Monday night.
The explosive and agile 5-8 receiver, who began receiving FBS scholarship offers during his freshman season, stuck with the Hurricanes despite growing chatter that he would go elsewhere after the firing of former coach Al Golden and dismissal of wide receivers coach Kevin Beard.
“Who doesn’t want to play [at] home, man? I’m playing in front of my people, playing in front of my city,” Bruce said. “I’ve been playing here forever, and I don’t want to take that away from my people.
“I want to play in front of my fans that have been my fans since the beginning.”
Bruce came to his final decision on Sunday night after a discussion with his family upon returning from his official visit to UM.
Bruce’s other finalists were Ohio State and South Carolina. He visited the Buckeyes in October and the Gamecocks on Jan. 15.
Bruce had 46 receptions for 427 yards and four receiving touchdowns plus three more rushing touchdowns as a senior on Class 7A state champion St. Thomas.
David Furones
Baseball
The Miami baseball team picked up its third top-10 ranking of 2016, checking in at No. 6 in Baseball America’s preseason Top 25 rankings.
The Hurricanes were ranked No. 4 in Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s Top 25 released in December, marking Miami’s highest preseason ranking from that publication since 2005. Miami was also ranked No. 6 by D1Baseball.com in its first Top 25 released in early January.
The Hurricanes’ preseason ranking of No. 6 is its highest from Baseball America since 2007, when they were ranked No. 2.
The Hurricanes’ 2016 schedule includes series against four teams ranked in the Baseball America Top 25, including home series against three of the top five teams (No. 1 Florida, No. 2 Louisville and No. 4 Virginia).
Miami returns 18 letterwinners from a 2015 team that won a second ACC Coastal Division title in a row and qualified for the College World Series for the 24th time in program history.
This story was originally published January 25, 2016 at 8:40 PM with the headline "Sam Bruce reaffirms Miami Hurricanes commitment."