Balom fulfills childhood dream, commits to Miami

Balom fulfills childhood dream, commits to Miami

Stefan Adams
On Wednesday, 2020 Miramar (FL) 3-star safety Brian Balom fulfilled a childhood dream when he announced his commitment to the Miami Hurricanes. Balom told the UM coaches his intentions on Monday, and then went public with his commitment this morning.

“It felt like a dream come true,” Balom said. “Since I was a kid, I’ve been all about Miami. It just felt like it was destiny to be able to attend the University of Miami. I spoke with coach Banda and Diaz about committing and they were fired up. I’m still getting hit up by the UM staff congratulating me.”

The 6-0 180 pound prospect built up a strong relationship with safeties coach Ephraim Banda, but also felt the hometown draw that Miami offered.

“We created a good bond, he hits me up every other day just to see how things are going,” Balom said of Banda. “So, he played a part. I also wanted to be closer to my family.”

Balom earned his UM offer after impressing the coaching staff in-person at Paradise Camp in June, and, from that point forward, it seemed the Canes led over schools like West Virginia, Louisville, and Utah.

The Miramar star is the 24th commitment in the 2020 class and the 6th take at DB for the Canes.

“Banda sees me as a rover/free safety,” Balom said of his role in the defense. “I’m a physical safety who isn’t scared to hit and could also be a ballhawk. I am like a QB on defense. An aggressive and smart safety who isn’t scared to tackle and has the range to play sideline-to-sideline. If the ball is in the air, it’s mine.”

Balom took an official visit to Louisville a few weeks back, but has apparently seen all he's needed to see, adding that he's shutting his recruitment down and won't be taking visits to other schools. While he is still in the process of getting to know some of his future classmates personally, Balom has played against a few of them and has high hopes for Category20.

“I’ve played against some of them, guys such as Xavier Restrepo and Justin Hodges,” Balom said. “I feel we have a great class coming in.”

Even though he doesn’t have a specific player in mind that he’d like to add to the class, the Miramar star expects he will be helping out with UM’s recruiting efforts in the future.

“I will be trying from now on,” Balom said of recruiting other players.

What are his expectations for his first season at Miami?

"I hope to come in and be able to get the opportunity to play a little," Balom said. "I know it’s rare for a freshman to play early, but I know I’m going to grind to get as much reps as I can."

So far this season, Balom has 20 tackles and 2 interceptions for the 2-3 Miramar Patriots. At the Opening Miami Regional in February, Balom recorded a 4.63 40-yard dash, a 4.34 shuttle, and a 32.50 vertical leap.

 

Comments (46)

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Solid film, seems to have pretty good athletic traits. Looks to be a nice developmental prospect for us, assuming he stays around.
 
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That's not what was said...

Diaz also had an interesting comment in regards to recruiting, saying the program has put new protocols in place in an effort to lock in their commitments.

“There are some things we are changing in what we’ll do to take a commitment,” Diaz said. “Not all those things are grandfathered, but what it means to be committed and a certain criteria for that to happen. There’s a criteria for what happens when you are committed that has never been in place in the past. Our recruits are aware of that now, I don’t want to get into the details. But from the inside out, if we don’t put value in something, it’s just sales.

“Before you value it, I have to value it. The way we look at ourselves, current players look at ourselves, it has to come from inside this building. The next step is from our fan base and community. Part of that is not tolerating people not respecting the University of Miami, the hometown team. That’s personal to me, my staff, our players. The University of Miami is going to get back to where it needs to get back to with players that love the University of Miami.”
 
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