Where Hurricanes football recruiting class stands two weeks from early signing period
Barring de-commitments, the Miami Hurricanes have only five slots remaining in their 2021 recruiting class — Miami is able to take up to 25 players — and the Canes remain in the mix for a few big names.
And one position that bears watching is cornerback, where UM’s overall numbers remain somewhat worrisome.
So far, the Canes have only one 2021 cornerback committed: Ft. Myers-based three-star prospect Malik Curtis, who also plays receiver.
Unless there’s a transfer or Al Blades Jr. or DJ Ivey shockingly leaves for the NFL, UM will have five returning corners on scholarship next season: Blades, Ivey, Te’Cory Couch and freshmen Isaiah Dunson and Marcus Clarke.
Among available prep cornerbacks, UM most often has been linked to Pahokee-based three-star prospect Markevious Brown.
Canesport reported last week that Miami is “in a good spot” for him, but 247’s Andrew Ivins reported “the odds of him signing with Miami seem to keep dropping, and that could in large part be because the staff might want to move in a different direction.”
UPDATE: Brown announced on Wednesday evening that UM is one of his finalists and he will announce his selection at 3 p.m. on Dec. 16. The other finalists: Virginia Tech, Auburn, Mississippi, Arkansas.
Ivins mentioned Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas three-star cornerback Ja’Den McBurrows (a Michigan commit) and Venice three-star cornerback Charles Brantley (a Michigan State commit) among others who could be in play for Miami.
UM hoped to land Tallahassee-based four-star Terion Arnold, but he eliminated UM from consideration this week; he narrowed his finalists to Alabama, Georgia, LSU, UF and Texas A&M.
And three-star Pensacola based Demarius McGee — another reported UM target — didn’t name Miami as a possibility in a Rivals.com interview this week.
A grad transfer at cornerback would be a possibility if UM loses one of its current five scholarship corners and doesn’t land at least one in recruiting, beyond Curtis.
What’s clear is Miami needs to find another cornerback at some point in the next four months and options are diminishing. Only player on the transfer market is former Miami Northwestern three-star cornerback Ronald Delancy, who picked Nebraska over UM and others a year ago and is now in the transfer portal after playing sparingly for the Cornhuskers this season.
Delancy wasn’t on the sideline for Nebraska’s recent 41-23 loss to Illinois but tweeted: “We [are supposed] to be way better than that, as a team wasting talent.” In high school, Delancy helped Northwestern win back-to-back state titles and had four interceptions — three returned for touchdowns — as a senior. He began his high school career at Carol City.
Miami’s level of interest in him is unclear.
UM hasn’t needed to use its two freshmen corners (who are fourth and fifth on the depth chart) much on defense, but defensive coordinator Blake Baker said this week that both Dunson and Clarke “are really starting to develop. The number one thing that pops out for Marcus is he’s a ball hawk. It seems every time the ball’s in the air he ends up walking away with it.
“And then Isaiah, he’s a competitive dude, just has dog in him. He’s super long, likes using his length at the line of scrimmage. He’s very, very coachable.”
Many of the 21 Class of 2021 players who are committed to UM are expected to sign during the early signing period that begins Dec. 16.
Where else could the Canes still add players?
The Hurricanes appear to be set at running back (Thad Franklin), tight end (Elijah Arroyo and Kahlil Brantley), receiver (Brashard Smith, Romello Brinson and Jacolby George), safety (five-star James Williams and Kamren Kinchen), striker (Chase Smith) and kicker (Andres Borregales).
UM is awaiting word from five-star recruit Maason Smith, the elite defensive tackle/end from Louisiana. UM is in pretty good shape with defensive line commits: Leonard Taylor, Jabari Ishmael and Allan Haye. Savion Collins de-committed from UM on Wednesday night, which wasn’t a surprise.
Maason Smith told 247 Sports’ Steve Wiltfong this week that “honestly I think it’s going to come down to the last day” — meaning the Dec. 16 start of the early signing period.
UM, Alabama, Georgia and LSU are the top contenders. LSU has been considered the clear favorite for months, but Smith told Wiltfong that Miami holds appeal as well because “I really do fit the scheme well. They have some big-name dudes on defense committed over there.
“I think that’s going to get stuff rolling over there. With Miami, I talk to coach [defensive line coach Todd] Stroud, [defensive coordinator Blake] Baker,.. coach [Manny] Diaz all the time. Coach Baker is from Louisiana and was a coach at Louisiana Tech for some time so he knows where I’m from and everything about me. It’s good to have someone there that knows stuff about you and where you’re from and they can relate to you because that’s a long way from home. Plus about them, their defensive scheme, they let their defensive front attack the quarterback and get after it and that’s my style of ball. The scheme over there fits me best out of any scheme and I like that about them.”
Two other top prospects to watch: four-star Miami Central standout linebacker Terrence Lewis, who de-committed from Tennessee on Monday and is often linked to Miami; and four-star quarterback Jake Garcia, the former California-based prospect who moved to Georgia to play this season and remains committed to Southern California as Miami continues to pursue him.
Here’s what offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said when I asked him Monday if he feels urgency to add a quarterback in this class.
In de-committing from Tennessee, Lewis said on social media that the Volunteers remain his top school. But he obviously will consider other options and UM and UF - among others - figure to be in play now.
Two of his former high school teammates - Miami Northwestern tight end Brantley and receiver Brinson — are UM Class of 2021 commitments.
Rivals rates Lewis the No. 2 inside linebacker and No. 32 overall player in the Class of 2021.
The Canes already have three linebackers committed in Killian’s Tyler Johnson (who can also play defensive end), Georgia-based Thomas Davis and Orlando’s Deshawn Troutman.
It’s possible that UM could supplement its strong offensive line commitment group (Michael McLaughlin, Ryan Rodriguez, Laurence Seymore) with one more player. Jacksonville-based tackle Austin Barber has been mentioned as a possibility.
This story was originally published December 2, 2020 at 1:31 PM.
