Where Canes stand after first weekend of official visits. And UM getting star on campus
The Miami Hurricanes ended their first post-COVID weekend of official visits without any nonbinding commitments but with significant reason for optimism.
Among the developments Monday:
Keithian “Bear” Alexander, a five-star defensive tackle from Fort Worth, Texas, announced he’s decommitting from Georgia and will visit UM for several days this week, including an official visit this weekend.
Alexander visited Texas A&M last week. Defensive line coach Jess Simpson has handled a lot of the recruiting of Alexander.
Rivals rates him the No. 4 prospect in the 2022 class and the No. 2 defensive tackle.
Meanwhile, four-star Class of 2022 Miami Pace defensive end Shemar Stewart attended a Canes barbecue last week and will take an official visit to Miami this weekend. 247Sports predicts he will end up with Miami, though that’s a low-confidence prediction and not a news report.
He visited LSU this past weekend. The Tigers were previously the frontrunner in the 247Sports.com Crystal Ball.
UM so far has only two nonbinding 2022 commitments: Georgia-based four-star quarterback Jacurri Brown and Gainesville-based three-star receiver Quan Lee.
That UM didn’t get any commitments from any of this past weekend’s Class of 2022 visitors wasn’t a surprise, because each of those players has other visits planned.
UM hosted seven Class of 2022 players last weekend, a visit that included meals at Rusty Pelican and Smith & Wolensky, as 247 Sports reported.
Those seven players:
▪ Washington-based four-star offensive tackle Malik Agbo; UM will need to overcome the issue of distance between the Pacific Northwest and South Florida. But Agbo — who’s visiting LSU and Oklahoma next — was impressed, telling 247 that “this is a really cool environment to be in. This is one of the teams where you’re like,’Oh yeah, I want to play for those guys.”
▪ Las Vegas-based tight end/outside linebacker Anthony Jones, who has spoken with former Las Vegas prep stars Brevin Jordan and Bubba Bolden about their experience at UM and is being recruited by Miami as a tight end. Bolden hosted him on his visit, and Jones emerged impressed with the Hurricanes.
Jones said tight ends coach Stephen Field is expecting tight end Will Mallory to leave after this year, which would mean an open competition at tight end once Jones gets on campus in 2022.
“He was like, Look, if you want to go to college and you just want to learn the program and just learn from somebody else for a year, don’t come here,” Jones told the Herald, “because if you’re going to come here, you need to be able to play right away.”
He also has official visits lined up with the Texas Longhorns and Oregon Ducks for June. Texas is recruiting him on defense and Oregon is giving him the option to play on either side of the ball.
▪ Fort Lauderdale Stranahan three-star linebacker Omar Graham Jr., who has a top three of UM, FSU and Penn State and told Canesport that the UM visit “went very well. I felt Miami set a high bar for all the visits.”
▪ Alabama-based four-star cornerback Trequon Fegans, who told 247 that his visit helped Miami’s chances.
▪ Louisiana-based cornerback Jordan Allen, who very much liked his visit, according to multiple recruiting web sites. He now will visit Penn State, Tennessee and Louisville.
▪ Fort Myers cornerback Chris Graves; Miami is in his top five; he will visit LSU and South Carolina next. The Hurricanes are in a really good spot here after Graves also attended UM’s “First Day Out” cookout last Tuesday.
▪ Georgia-based defensive lineman Quentel Jones, who next will visit Wisconsin and Tennessee. “Miami has always been high in my picture; they never dropped,” Jones told Canesport. “Now I see what it is, and I can see myself in Miami.”
UM athletic director Blake James said it was pleasing to have recruits back on campus during the past week.
“Yeah, I think it’s great,” he said. “In the conversations I’ve had with Manny [Diaz], our coaches have been very excited to have the guys here and we’re appreciative of the support of the institution to be able to bring them back onto campus.”
NOTABLE
With the nation opening up, UM remains committed to having full stadiums this fall, barring something unforeseen.
“We’ve gotten a great response, and I’m confident that this fall we’ll have as strong crowds as we’ve had in the past there,” James said Monday. “The response we’ve gotten from our fan base has been very positive. We look forward to filling up Hard Rock Stadium this season.”
This story was originally published June 7, 2021 at 4:43 PM.
