One benefit UM has in recruiting — but not for long. And Lashlee, Larranaga address issues
A six-pack of Miami Hurricanes notes on a Tuesday:
▪ One advantage the Canes still have in recruiting — though it might be fleeting — is the fact that Florida is one of only five states that has approved a July 1 start for legislation that allows student athletes to benefit financially from use of their name, image and likeness.
The other states that have approved a July 1 start: Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and New Mexico. Prominent local attorney Darren Heitner, who has handled numerous cases involving athletes, said Texas and Illinois are expected to join that group, with “Louisiana at or near that date.” Nebraska also might join that group.
More than a half dozen other states have passed similar legislation that will make the NCAA’s amateur athlete policies illegal.
Congress could pass a law that would allow every student-athlete nationally to benefit from this.
Heitner said by phone that he expects Congress to enact such legislation before the end of the year and possibly but “unlikely” before July 1.
So within a year or two, every student-athlete could get the same financial benefits that college players in Florida and the handful of other states will reap beginning July 1.
For the moment, though, the Canes (and UF, FSU, FAU, FIU, UCF and USF) can offer a financial perk that not many other schools can.
This is something that UM coaches presumably will mention when they open their campus to dozens of recruits during the next month, beginning Tuesday.
This “absolutely has given these schools an advantage over the past year,” Heitner said. “It’s tempered as we get closer to July 1 because more states are passing [similar bills] and Congress is considering it. The advantage will start to dissipate.”
Under this legislation, players can benefit financially from endorsements, create their own businesses and benefit from appearances at football and basketball camps, among other things. Heitner said agents “will be allowed to work with college athletes in procuring and negotiating their NIL deals.”
But the players’ marketing deals cannot conflict with sponsorship deals for the schools they’re playing for. And players cannot use their schools’ logo in advertisements.
Florida’s legislation prohibits its universities from directly compensating athletes for anything related to their name, image and likeness. So UM can’t pay a player to appear in an ad for a Hurricanes sponsor.
Florida’s law said student-athletes in the state must inform school officials about their NIL contracts and must be given life skills and financial literacy workshops in their first and third years on campus.
UM basketball coach Jim Larranaga told WQAM’s Joe Zagacki last week that the Hurricanes administration is interviewing companies “to educate student athletes on how they can make money off their name, image and likeness.”
Larranaga said he has recommended to the administration that UM offers a class to “educate kids how to make money early on.”
UM smartly has been preparing for his moment for a while, as this piece explains.
Larranaga predicts “women will even be more popular making income” than male college players and expects female student-athletes to promote products including “makeup and perfume.”
Larranaga predicts that for “most basketball players, I don’t think there’s going to be a tremendous amount” of money to be made.
▪ With the dead period ending Monday and recruiting visits now permitted, at least two dozen Class of 2022 recruits will be on UM’s campus for a barbecue with football coaches on Tuesday, with another scheduled Wednesday and a slew of official visits scheduled this month, as detailed here and here.
Among those expected for Tuesday’s barbecue (and this is not a complete list): Homestead defensive end Dante Anderson, Miami Central outside linebacker Wesley Bissainthe, five-star Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas offensive tackle Julien Armella (the nation’s No. 1 prospect and considered a long shot for the Canes, per Canesport), Sanford Seminole defensive backs/twins Ja’Cari and Denari Henderson, Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna defensive end Kenyatta Jackson, Raleigh defensive end Beau Atkinson, Fernandina defensive back Cam Miller, Virginia safety Sherrod Covil, Fort Lauderdale Stranahan outside linebacker Omar Graham Jr., Fort Myers cornerback Chris Graves and Plantation American Heritage receiver Marvin Jones Jr.
▪ In a chat with ACC Network, offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee sounded excited about what receiver Charleston Rambo can do following a strong close to spring ball.
“There is not a lot of pressure on him,” Lashlee said. “He just needs to come in and be the best version of Charleston Rambo that he can be. We have other guys like Mike Harley, Will Mallory, Dee Wiggins, and young guys that will step in. Just step in and do your job and if he has that mindset, he will be fine.
“He has big-game experience at Oklahoma with playing in the playoffs. It is hard to simulate game experience, so he is a guy that has been there and done that—and that helps.
“The development in him with what we do in practice from practice one to practice 15 in the spring was good. He was really on an upward trajectory in the spring. We are excited to have him added to the wide receiver corps.”
▪ Larranaga, on his four new players:
On former DePaul point guard Charlie Moore: “Preseason first team All-Big East [last year]. Led the Big East in assists. Our fans will like Charlie just like they liked Chris Lykes,” who’s now at Arkansas.
On former George Mason swingman Jordan Miller: “Very similar player [to Earl Timberlake]. Left-handed like Earl. Leading scorer, leading rebounder for George Mason.” Timberlake transferred to Memphis this offseason.
On freshman Philadelphia-based four-star combo guard Nisine Poplar, rated by Rivals as the 75th-best player in the 2021 class: “6-4, 6-5, very good shooter, very good athlete and similar to Isaiah Wong, where he might need some grooming in his freshman year. By his sophomore year, he will really fit in well.”
On freshman Maryland-based four-star small forward Jakai Robinson, rated by Rivals as the nation’s 91st best Class of 2021 prospect: “6-5, strong, competitive, much like a warrior.
Physically, he’s going to be ready right away.”
▪ Larranaga said UM will get clarity by early July regarding whether guards Isaiah Wong (UM’s best player) and Kameron McGusty will keep themselves eligible for the NBA draft or return to UM.
“They’re both waiting on the call from the NBA to see if they’re going to be selected for the NBA [predraft] Combine,” Larranaga said. “If they’re selected, that’s going to change the projection. If they go and play really well, there will be NBA people very interested in them.”
But if they aren’t invited — or if they’re invited but don’t impress NBA teams — then they are more likely to return to UM.
“We won’t know for quite some time,” Larranaga said. “They will be declaring their situation at the end of June, first of July.”
▪ Couple other quick basketball notes: UM has 12 players on scholarship and plans to add a 13th. “We would like to add a big guy, hopefully someone really good who can have a major impact,” Larranaga said…
Larranaga said “we hope to play faster, more up tempo, force more turnovers, get out in the open court more often… Our backcourt should be very strong”…. UM will play in a tournament in Orlando during Thanksgiving week; the field is loaded with Kansas, Georgetown and Alabama, among others. The Canes are trying to find a home opener.... The Canes will play Forham in a Dec. 12 quadruple-header at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
This story was originally published June 1, 2021 at 1:06 PM.
