It's National Signing Day, 2011. After two months of scrambling, Al Golden had signed the first sixteen players of his era. Many of the signees did not get recruited by Miami until Golden's arrival. It wasn't the biggest class in the nation, or the finest. But standing before the local beat writers, Golden laid out his recruiting principles for the world to see. The Process, for 2012 and beyond. One year and thirty-three scholarships later, his word can be put to the test.
"I’m used to seeing kids in camp. I’m used to seeing kids play basketball and those types of things. Our last four years at Temple, 78 percent of the kids that we signed attended the camp. So obviously you have a chance to evaluate them in the camp. There’s nothing like seeing a student-athlete live. There’s nothing that compares to it."
Ten signees participated in the camps-- Preston Dewey, Gray Crow, David Thompson, Herb Waters, Jontavious Carter, Dwayne Hoilett, Jake O'Donnell, Josh Witt, Larry Hope, and Vernon Davis.
All ten kept their commitment through the Shapiro scandal.
"That was frustrating. But that will never happen again at the University of Miami. Our staff will not let it. For that we apologize to be quite all honest to all the high schools in South Florida. We will make that sure that we make that connection now moving forward. I've already entertained calls from the 2012 class today. We're going to move forward and develop those relationships and repair the ones that weren't as strong as they needed to be."
Four players from Palm Beach (three in the previous three years). Two players from Miramar. The biggest recruit from St. Thomas Aquinas. A player from Plant. First Columbus player in more than a decade.
"I don't get into the rankings other than someone told me `coach, do your realize…' For us, if it's 33, it's not good enough. It's not good enough. We're going to continue to move forward."
Finished 33rd in 2011 recruiting rankings. Consensus Top 10 in in 2012.
"Again, I'm talking turning eight kids, flipping eight kids. There are a lot of schools that can't do that in three or four years. We flipped eight kids from Jan. 2 on. That's something I'm not afraid of."
Six committed players stolen from rival coaches this year. Robert Lockhart and Jawand Blue from Frank Beamer. Dequan Ivery from Charlie Strong and Clint Hurtt. Nate Dortch from Butch Davis. Rayshawn Jenkins from Skip Holtz. Antonio Crawford from Paul Johnson.
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"The number of kids that come from down here and play Division I football is the reason why as we’re developing our recruiting philosophy. We want nine guys just in the three counties, really in four or five counties within two hours we’re going to have nine guys. That says it all. Like this year in Connecticut. There’s seven players probably that go Division I. Miami Central had 17.
Sixteen of the 33 signees from the three counties. Landed the number one player in Dade, the number one player in Broward, and an All-American from Palm Beach.
"Not only do we have all nine coaches within two hours of where we are right now, which is what we call the Eye of the Storm, we have all nine coaches in-state, which is really important to us. If we take care of our home state, we’re going to be in great shape. We’ll have all nine guys in the state and all nine guys here in the eye, which I think is a departure from what they’ve done before. We want to make sure we get it right here."
Five players from Tampa area. Two from Southwest Florida. Four-fifths of the class from Florida. Twenty-six Florida kids total.
"You can measure me right now, you can measure me right now. Measure me today. Measure me next week. Measure me next year, four or five years from now. Because we're here only to do it one way."
"I’m used to seeing kids in camp. I’m used to seeing kids play basketball and those types of things. Our last four years at Temple, 78 percent of the kids that we signed attended the camp. So obviously you have a chance to evaluate them in the camp. There’s nothing like seeing a student-athlete live. There’s nothing that compares to it."
Ten signees participated in the camps-- Preston Dewey, Gray Crow, David Thompson, Herb Waters, Jontavious Carter, Dwayne Hoilett, Jake O'Donnell, Josh Witt, Larry Hope, and Vernon Davis.
All ten kept their commitment through the Shapiro scandal.
"That was frustrating. But that will never happen again at the University of Miami. Our staff will not let it. For that we apologize to be quite all honest to all the high schools in South Florida. We will make that sure that we make that connection now moving forward. I've already entertained calls from the 2012 class today. We're going to move forward and develop those relationships and repair the ones that weren't as strong as they needed to be."
Four players from Palm Beach (three in the previous three years). Two players from Miramar. The biggest recruit from St. Thomas Aquinas. A player from Plant. First Columbus player in more than a decade.
"I don't get into the rankings other than someone told me `coach, do your realize…' For us, if it's 33, it's not good enough. It's not good enough. We're going to continue to move forward."
Finished 33rd in 2011 recruiting rankings. Consensus Top 10 in in 2012.
"Again, I'm talking turning eight kids, flipping eight kids. There are a lot of schools that can't do that in three or four years. We flipped eight kids from Jan. 2 on. That's something I'm not afraid of."
Six committed players stolen from rival coaches this year. Robert Lockhart and Jawand Blue from Frank Beamer. Dequan Ivery from Charlie Strong and Clint Hurtt. Nate Dortch from Butch Davis. Rayshawn Jenkins from Skip Holtz. Antonio Crawford from Paul Johnson.
"The number of kids that come from down here and play Division I football is the reason why as we’re developing our recruiting philosophy. We want nine guys just in the three counties, really in four or five counties within two hours we’re going to have nine guys. That says it all. Like this year in Connecticut. There’s seven players probably that go Division I. Miami Central had 17.
Sixteen of the 33 signees from the three counties. Landed the number one player in Dade, the number one player in Broward, and an All-American from Palm Beach.
"Not only do we have all nine coaches within two hours of where we are right now, which is what we call the Eye of the Storm, we have all nine coaches in-state, which is really important to us. If we take care of our home state, we’re going to be in great shape. We’ll have all nine guys in the state and all nine guys here in the eye, which I think is a departure from what they’ve done before. We want to make sure we get it right here."
Five players from Tampa area. Two from Southwest Florida. Four-fifths of the class from Florida. Twenty-six Florida kids total.
"You can measure me right now, you can measure me right now. Measure me today. Measure me next week. Measure me next year, four or five years from now. Because we're here only to do it one way."
