Where Miami Hurricanes stand in South Florida recruiting. And high school coach weighs in
The numbers — two UM commitments among the top 17 Miami-Dade/Broward/Palm Beach county Class of 2021 football prospects — do not sound particularly encouraging on the surface.
But look beyond that, and there’s reason for cautious optimism about the Miami Hurricanes’ current cycle of local recruiting.
Of the 17 prospects from Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach county high schools who are listed in the Rivals.com ranking of the top 200 overall prospects for 2021, 10 remain uncommitted.
Of the seven who are committed, only one school (UM) has a nonbinding pledge from more than one of them. Alabama, UF, Tennessee, Clemson and Mississippi have commitments from one player each.
And there’s this: The Canes are receiving strong consideration from several of those uncommitted 10, as well as a bunch of other well-regarded South Florida prospects who aren’t in the Rivals top 200.
If the Canes crack the top 20, make the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game, and are at least competitive against Clemson in that game, and win their bowl game, they will have every opportunity to flip at least one of these top South Florida prospects and lure several who aren’t committed.
Even after the disappointing 2019 season, this UM staff has displayed an ability to land some quality players — including the nation’s top safety prospect (incoming freshman Avantae Williams), blue-chip grad transfers D’Eriq King and Quincy Roche, and UF transfer/offensive tackle Issiah Walker, among others.
So Hurricanes fans shouldn’t give up hope about UM snagging more of the top local players in the 2021 class.
But it’s going to take a high-powered offense that will light up the scoreboard and excite recruits.
It’s going to take a genuine belief, among top recruits, that the Canes are legitimately on their way back to prominence, not something that feels like the 10-3 season of 2017, which in retrospect looks like an anomaly in this 15-year malaise.
And it’s going to take winning — and a lot of it.
“That’s huge; the Miami coaches know that,” Miami Palmetto coach Mike Manasco told me last week. “The product on the field is the biggest determining factor for a lot of top recruits. They want to see Miami do well. We all do.”
Manasco is in good position to know; he has five top recruits, including three players in the Rivals top 200. He said Miami remains in the mix for all five players (one of them, defensive tackle Savion Collins, is already committed to UM) but added that the Canes’ performance this season will factor into all of their decisions.
Here’s where things stand among the local players in Rivals’ top 200:
▪ Five-star Miami Palmetto safety Corey Collier, the No. 17 player on Rivals list, is uncommitted but has Miami in his top six. LSU, Clemson, Georgia, FSU and UF are formidable competitors.
“UM, UF, FSU all have a legit chance to get Corey,” Manasco said. “Corey will instantly change the locker room. He’s a great kid. He’s a tremendous man-cover guy. His ability to play the football is what separates him. Long kid, so his range is good. He can change the dynamic of your defense because he can do so much well.”
▪ Five-star Miami Booker T. Washington receiver Jacorey Brooks (No. 18) committed to Alabama on May 8.
▪ Five-star Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas defensive end Tyreak Sapp (No. 19) committed to UF on Christmas Eve in 2018.
▪ Four-star Plantation American Heritage safety James Williams (No. 20) is undecided. Georgia is considered the front-runner.
▪ Four-star Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna linebacker Terrence Lewis (No. 21) committed to Tennessee on April 30.
▪ Four-star Palmetto cornerback Jason Marshall (No. 63) is undecided. He announced a top three of Alabama, Clemson and UF, but Manasco said UM isn’t out of it.
“He’s more open to a lot more schools,” Manasco said. “Miami has a shot at all these guys. Marshall is the most sought-after cover corner in this class.”
▪ Four-star Palmetto defensive tackle Leonard Taylor (No. 116) is undecided. Miami is in his top five, and UM badly wants Taylor because defensive tackle remains a priority, and Taylor is one of the best in the country at that position.
Taylor had a Zoom call with UM coaches on May 22 and he “said it went well,” Manasco said. “Miami is in the picture with him. He likes the hometown thing. He wants to see Miami play well this year. He’s a specimen, one of those kids you look at and say he will play on Sunday.”
▪ Four-star Davie University School offensive tackle Marcus Tate (No. 121) committed to Clemson last September.
▪ Four-star Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons receiver Troy Stellato (No. 124) is undecided. UM has offered. Clemson is considered the favorite.
▪ Four-star St. Thomas Aquinas safety Bralon Brown (No. 127) committed to Mississippi on April 21.
▪ Four-star Miami Central guard Laurence Seymore (No. 130) has been committed to UM since March 2018 but hasn’t shut down his recruitment.
“I’m still committed, but I’m just keeping my options open because you never know what’ll happen,” Seymore — who plans to visit UF, FSU, Georgia and LSU — told Canesport in mid-May.
▪ Four-star St. Thomas Aquinas linebacker Dallas Turner (No. 135) is uncommitted, but Georgia is reportedly the favorite.
▪ Four-star Miami Northwestern receiver Romello Brinson (No. 147) is uncommitted and plans to announce June 13.
He decommitted from UM after last November’s loss to FIU, but Miami has a strong chance to get him back in this class. The competition is stiff (Alabama, LSU, FSU, Texas A&M).
▪ Four-star Northwestern safety Kamren Kinchens (No. 168) is undecided. He plans to announce July 11 and told Inside The U that his finalists are Miami, Auburn, Texas A&M and Nebraska. Auburn is viewed as Miami’s biggest challenger.
▪ Four-star Central receiver Yukeilth Brown Jr. (No. 169) is undecided. UM offered at one point, but the level of interest from either party is unclear.
▪ Four-star Plantation High receiver Jacolby George (No. 174) announced Wednesday that he’s committing to Miami for a second time. George, who decommitted from Miami after the loss to FIU last season, has said in multiple interviews that he has a good feeling about Miami’s new offense.
▪ Four-star Miami Columbus High defensive end Jabari Ismael (No. 196) is undecided.
UM’s third-highest-rated South Florida commitment is four-star Chaminade-Madonna running back Thaddius Franklin, who’s No. 213 on the Rivals list.
Manasco said Collins — who has been a UM commitment since September 2018 — “is a guy that has gotten exponentially better. He was our most-improved defensive player throughout the year. He’s 6-4, 315 pounds, extremely agile, quick athlete, explosive hands. He likes Miami; his family likes Miami but it’s still early in the process.”
UF is viewed as UM’s biggest challenger for Collins.
Meanwhile, UM cracked the top five for Palmetto four-star receiver Brashard Smith.
“If you look up all-purpose athlete in the dictionary, it’s Smith,” Manasco said. “He can play in the backfield, can play receiver. [UM offensive coordinator] Rhett Lashlee and the staff have done a tremendous job recruiting Brashard. He decommited from Florida.”
Lashlee, new receivers coach Rob Likens and new offensive line coach Garin Justice are working diligently to develop a rapport with local high school coaching staffs and players. They already know some of these coaches from their previous college coaching jobs.
Manasco said Lashlee “knows his stuff, has great energy. Players are drawn to coaches with energy. The offense he runs will score points.”
And in the past month, UM coaches held a two-hour Zoom call with Palmetto coaches, which Manasco appreciated.
“We started out as a whole staff, then broke up into offense, defense,” he said, adding that his assistants could ask UM coaches anything they wanted.
He said they discussed “philosophy” and “how they do things” with drills and preparation.
“It was nice to make it personal,” Manasco said.
UM hopes all of this will translate into better success recruiting South Florida after watching several of the top local players opt for Alabama, Georgia, LSU, UF, Clemson and Ohio State in the past decade.
This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 2:16 PM.
