Class Impact: Ladarius Tennison exits

2020 Rockledge S Ladarius Tennison decommitted from the Canes this afternoon.



The 5-9, 195-pounder is currently a consensus 3-star in the national rankings. According to the 247Composite, Tennison is the #469 player nationally, the #39 ATH in the country, and the #72 player in the Sunshine state. His decommitment moves Miami’s 2020 class ranking to #4 on 247Sports and #3 on Rivals.


The Background

Tennison has been committed to the Canes for two months now, after giving his pledge to the staff at a junior day event in early February. Growing up a UM fan, he received his Miami offer in November 2018 and Tennison named the Canes his leader that same day; it seemed like only a matter of time before he wound up committing to the U. However, Tennison has seen increased interest from many top-tier schools lately, such as Clemson, UGA, Texas A&M, and Michigan, and the Rockledge star took a recent visit to Clemson. It seems the visit with the Tigers was enough to make Tennison question if he committed too early, and he decided to open up his process shortly afterwards.


Future of the Class

Tennison’s departure leaves 11 commits in the 2020 class, but I expect UM will continue to pursue him. Miami technically has two listed safeties left in Category20 with Amite (LA) 3-star Daran Branch and South Dade (FL) 4-star Keshawn Washington, although Washington seems to be likely to settle in at striker linebacker at UM. UM is looking to pair another true safety prospect with Branch to fill out the class, and possibly two.

At the top of the safety board is Deland (FL) 4-star Avantae Williams, who Miami has really been pressing hard to flip from Oregon lately. A former UM commitment, Williams has family ties to the program, and UM recently got him on campus for a junior day event at the end of last month. Williams has never visited Oregon, and many believe he won’t stick with the Ducks for that reason; however, he is planning to make his first visit to Eugene for their spring game this month, so it will be worth watching to see if he does indeed make that visit.

The Canes have offered a ton of guys at the position outside of the state over the past two months or so. Of these guys, it is hard to tell just how much they are interested in UM and the relationships are so new, but the name to know for now is Bergen Catholic (NJ) 4-star Jordan Morant. Morant just put the Canes in his top 10 last week and is in the process of trying to set a visit to Coral Gables.

Miami could also stay local and try and push for a guy like Miami Palmetto (FL) 3-star Robert Hanna. Sandalwood (FL) 3-star Derek Bermudez is an intriguing option from the Jacksonville area who has already visited multiple times this spring. Miami and coach Jon Patke have also been in touch with Apopka (FL) 3-star ATH Jecoryan Davis-Hamilton, and see him on the defensive side of the ball in the safety/striker mold.