How UM hoops mastered the portal. And football search for cornerbacks; Highsmith weighs in
The Miami Hurricanes basketball program has done a lot of things well in 12 years under Jim Larranaga’s guidance, and here’s one of them:
They have a exceptional track record of hitting on players in the transfer portal.
From Shane Larkin to Sheldon McClellan to Charlie Moore to Jordan Miller to this year’s additions, Norchad Omier and Nijel Pack, Miami has managed the portal as well as any team in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Because the transfer portal has become akin to free agency in sports, Miami’s high rate of success would be comparable to a team hitting on nearly every player it signs in free agency, which would be unusual.
Larranaga, whose team plays Saturday at Duke (noon, ESPN), explained the portal process that he uses:
“In the summer and the fall, we’re recruiting high school kids, and most of them make their decisions. During the year, we are focused on our team. Once the season ends, we have a manager who’s responsible for checking the portal every single day and updating the coaches.
“My staff does a serious background check, watching video, narrowing the list down and providing me the video and the list that I should look at, but it’s a priority list. It might be only three or four or five guys.
“Once we establish who those guys are, we try to get some background information from the people who are important to them, might be an AAU coach, might be a parent as to whether or not the University of Miami would even have a reasonable shot.”
Besides smart evaluation of players, Miami also has had some good luck and fortuitous timing.
“Shane Larkin, he called us. Angel Rodriguez, he called us,” Larranaga said. “Once Angel decided to come to Miami, he told us we should go after Sheldon McClellan. Kamari Murphy called us. We recruited him out of high school and [and he instead went to Oklahoma State for two years and then] he called me and said, ‘I made a mistake. I should have come to Miami.’ He transferred” here.
Serendipitous circumstances led some recent transfers to UM.
“With Jordan Miller, he played at George Mason” where Larranaga coached for 14 years before coming to Miami.
“Everyone at George Mason said, ‘If you’re going to transfer, you should go play for coach L.’
“In Charlie Moore’s case, he played at DePaul, and Bill Courtney had just been an assistant at DePaul. They had a relationship and we recruited Charlie out of high school as well.”
Courtney is now in his fourth season on Larranaga’s coaching staff at Miami.
Miller and Moore were instrumental in UM’s run to the Elite Eight last season.
“Norchad Omier, from Nicaragua, he’s Spanish speaking, went to Miami Prep. He felt like Miami was home,” Larranaga said.
“Nijel Pack saw what kind of year Charlie Moore had and [Moore] was leaving. He felt like he could fill that role.”
Portal additions are a big reason this UM team is off to a 15-3 start.
Omier, the Arkansas State transfer, is 13th in the country in rebounds per game at 10.2, while averaging 14.0 points.
Pack, the Kansas State transfer, is averaging 11.6 points and 2.5 assists and shooting 37.4 percent on threes.
Miller has been a reliable scorer and defender for two years; he’s averaging 14.8 points and 5.7 rebounds this season.
“We’ve been very fortunate,” Larranaga said. “My staff has done a great job of identifying the right guys.”
CORNERBACK OUTLOOK
With top prep prospect Cormain McClain flipping to Colorado this week, UM’s football program will continue efforts to add another cornerback in the transfer portal, with Georgia’s Jaheim Singletary and Iowa’s Terry Roberts among the targets.
Roberts, who visited UM earlier this month, appeared in only five games last season but was great in coverage, allowing only 7 of 17 targets to be caught for 49 yards, an interception and an impressive 24.4 passer rating in his coverage area.
Singletary, considered among the nation’s top 10 cornerbacks in the 2022 class, appeared in only two games as a freshman last season and the only pass thrown against him was caught for 19 yards.
Singletary has closely guarded his intentions; 247 Sports reported Friday that Miami “could be a possibility.”
At the moment, UM’s top three corners — in no particular order — appear to be Davonte Brown (the veteran transfer from UCF) and returnees Te’Cory Couch and Daryl Porter Jr.
Three four-star cornerbacks in this freshman class — Robert Stafford, Antione Jackson and Damari Brown (Davonte’s brother) — all will have a chance to compete for playing time. (Jackson also can play safety.)
Three young cornerbacks from previous recruiting classes — Jaden Harris, Chris Graves and Malik Curtis — also will have a chance to compete.
Four cornerbacks from last season’s team have departed: Tyrique Stevenson to the NFL, DJ Ivey because his eligibility expired and Isaiah Dunson and Khamauri Rogers to the transfer portal.
Al Blades Jr., who began his UM career at cornerback and ended it at safety, transferred to Duke.
NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah has Stevenson going 23rd overall — to Minnesota — in his first mock draft released on Friday.
▪ Alonzo Highsmith, the general manager of football operations for UM, explained what the Canes are looking for in a podcast with longtime Hurricanes sideline reporter Josh Darrow.
“It all boils down to player acquisition,” he said. “If you watch Georgia [in its blowout win over TCU in the championship game], you realize it’s all about talent, finding the right kind of kids for your program, building consistency, building a nucleus of young players, young talent, bringing in an influx of young talent at all times.
“If you’re going to play in the final four you have to have professional type football players at the college level on your team. It sounds easy, but it’s hard. That’s when evaluation skills come in, evaluating the physical traits it takes to play at the next level.
“Miami needs to be playing against the Georgias and Alabamas and playing for national championships. That’s the barometer. Georgia is the barometer for the University of Miami. We’re not going to be satisfied [until] we get to that level of football.”
Highsmith said the key is finding players with “the physical traits, size and speed, who make plays… That’s what it’s about. It’s not a scientific experiment. We’re not building rocket ships. We’re identifying the talent to beat the best.”
This story was originally published January 20, 2023 at 4:11 PM.
