Killian’s Sheldrick Redwine signs with Miami Hurricanes and not Louisville

They say it’s better late than never.

That was the case for Killian cornerback Sheldrick Redwine when it came to receiving a scholarship offer from his dream school.

Redwine grew up a fan of the Miami Hurricanes but didn’t have a firm offer from them until less than a week before National Signing Day.

The Canes got to him just in time as Redwine announced Wednesday that he was decommitting from Louisville and signing with UM with a Signing Day hat trick at Killian’s media center.

With what appeared to be just a Miami and Louisville hat on the table, he grabbed the Louisville hat and put it on slowly, but then took it off to reveal he had a second Canes hat underneath it.

“There’s nothing like staying home and putting on for your home city,” said Redwine, the dynamic first-team All-Miami-Dade selection who finished his senior season with five interceptions — two returned for touchdowns — three forced fumbles, 33 tackles and four blocked kicks. “It’s a dream school growing up. The opportunity came. I just couldn’t pass it down.”

Redwine finalized his decision Monday night after sitting down and talking extensively with stepfather Derrick Lordeus, who is also the offensive coordinator at Killian.

He spent Tuesday notifying coaches of both schools of his decision, and that morning he also updated his Twitter profile to no longer read “Louisville commit” and changed his profile picture from one of him draped in Cardinals red to one of him and Jaquan Johnson, teammates in the defensive backfield at Killian who will now continue playing together at the next level. Johnson graduated early and is already enrolled at UM for the spring semester as part of this year’s recruiting class.

“Jaquan had a huge impact on me,” Redwine said. “He texted me, ‘Come to the U. We’re going to grind together. We’re going to shine together.’”

Johnson knew he had something going for him when Redwine was offered.

“I knew everything changed. I knew he was thinking about it a lot, and I knew he wanted to go there,” Johnson said. “It was going to be a tough decision, but I just had to talk to him and tell him, ‘You make the choice.’”

Redwine was hopeful he would get the Miami offer sooner and admitted he had to get over being offered late by the Hurricanes before making his decision.

Recent down years at UM don’t concern Johnson and Redwine. They were incoming freshmen at Killian following a 1-9 season and were able to turn the program’s fortunes back around to the tune of two district titles and two trips to regional finals.

They will look to achieve similar collegiate success in their hometown.

“Every kid that grows up in Miami, it’s their dream to go to UM,” Killian coach Johnson said. “We all knew it was going to be hard to get him away from UM once he went there and got over the timing.”

Redwine is a 6-2 cover corner with exceptional ball skills who can also keep up with quicker receivers. He finished his Killian career with seven interceptions, including a game-clincher against South Dade as a junior and a go-ahead pick-six against Carol City his senior year.

“He’s going to bring a physical mentality to the University of Miami,” Lordeus said. “He isn’t afraid to hit people. They’re going to get a guy that plays the game, takes the coaching and is a good teammate.”

Lordeus and Johnson agree that Redwine blossomed his junior season, playing the opposite corner of current Louisville Cardinal Trumaine Washington. Holding his own against some of the top receivers down south allowed him to develop.

Wide receiver Anthony Olivencia signed with Marist College in New York on Wednesday. Linebacker James Bowe is on his way to the University of Massachusetts, and Bruce Davis will be heading to Fort Scott Community College in Kansas. Kamal Pestaina will attend Florida Tech, and Terrell McLain and Jordan Herrera will attend West Hills College Coalinga together.

Defensive end Damian Horton opted to delay his decision beyond Signing Day, electing to see what opportunities open up later on.

This story was originally published February 4, 2015 at 12:03 PM with the headline "Killian’s Sheldrick Redwine signs with Miami Hurricanes and not Louisville."