St. Thomas Aquinas 4-star DT Braylen Ingraham committed to Alabama tonight, spurning the local Miami Hurricanes for the national champs. Before this past weekend, that would have been considered shocking news, as Ingraham was UM’s top target at DT for months and he was considered a heavy Miami-lean publicly.
Privately, though, Ingraham had given the Miami staff even more reason to expect he would be a Hurricane. CIS learned after the FSU game from a trusted source that Ingraham was a silent commit to the Canes and had told the staff he was going to be in this class. He had been wanting to wait to make things official so he could make his announcement on his mother’s birthday. It’s unclear exactly how long Ingraham was a silent commitment to the Canes, but either way, Miami was certainly penciling him into their class up until this weekend.
As it closed in on the weekend before his announcement, things started to change and momentum had begun to shift to Bama. By Monday, I had confirmed with an STA source and a source close to the recruitment that he was all but set to Alabama. Both sources declined to comment on exactly what precipitated the flip to the Crimson Tide.
Alabama has been a thorn in the side of Miami’s D-Line recruiting efforts this cycle and Ingraham’s recruitment essentially played out exactly like Grayson (GA) 4-star DE Kevin Harris’ situation just a few months back in May. Coming off a visit to UM, Harris told Miami he was coming, but wanted to hold off to make a planned public announcement on TV. The weekend before his announcement, though, Nick Saban got into Harris’ ear and convinced him to flip to the Crimson Tide, leaving Miami empty-handed.
Even though they were caught off guard, just like when Harris’ defection occurred, Miami will have to pick themselves up and recover quickly with their defensive line recruiting, as this cycle is less than 2 months away from the early signing period.
Who could Miami go after on the D-Line now? While I fully expect Miami to continue their pursuit of Lehigh Senior 4-star DT Quashon Fuller, CIS has confirmed that Miami has been in contact with two “new” names as of late, which are Forest Park (GA) 4-star DE Justin Eboigbe and Many (LA) 3-star DE Myron Warren.
Eboigbe in particular is interesting because he’s a name that has been on UM’s radar in the past. Back in February, former UM D-Line coach Craig Kuligowski offered Eboigbe, however, shortly afterwards, Kuligowski defected to Alabama, and contact between Eboigbe and Miami died down. It wasn’t long until Eboigbe followed Kuligowski to the Crimson Tide and committed to play in Tuscaloosa. Things have changed lately for Eboigbe though, and he has elected to look around at other schools, one of which has been Miami. Eboigbe told CIS yesterday that he is working on setting up an official to Miami next month, so there seems to be some legitimate interest on his part. Although Miami is currently recruiting him as a DE, Eboigbe has the body type at 6’5” 265 that UM likes to move inside to DT within a year or so after the player hits campus.
The Canes have also been in touch with Warren in the past few weeks, and like his potential as an edge rusher at 6’4” 235. Although Miami has not come through with an offer as of yet, Warren told CIS that UM has intimated one could be coming soon. For his part, Warren seems completely wide open and would like to take a visit to Miami soon. Texas, Oregon, and Tennessee are some others that have offered Warren as of now.
In terms of players you could see Miami get involved with down the road, keep your eye on East (UT) 4-star DT Siaki Ika and Cedar Grove (GA) 4-star DT Rashad Cheney. Although Miami has not been in contact with either as of yet, both Ika and Cheney are on Miami’s radar and both told CIS they would definitely be interested in taking visits if they started hearing from the Canes. Cheney is the more interesting name here, as he already has a UM offer and a teammate of his has been heavily connected to UM in recent months: 5-star WR Jadon Haselwood.
Also, don’t be surprised if Miami kicks the tires on Carol City 3-star DT Malcolm Ray or Miami Northwestern 3-star DT Calijah Kancey. Miami was in contact with both during the spring evaluation period, but never pulled a trigger on an offer, and the two went ahead and committed to USF (Ray) and Pitt (Kancey) instead. Ray in particular has had a monster senior season for the dominant Carol City defense in 2018 and has seen some bigger programs begin to take interest in him, including FSU.
Privately, though, Ingraham had given the Miami staff even more reason to expect he would be a Hurricane. CIS learned after the FSU game from a trusted source that Ingraham was a silent commit to the Canes and had told the staff he was going to be in this class. He had been wanting to wait to make things official so he could make his announcement on his mother’s birthday. It’s unclear exactly how long Ingraham was a silent commitment to the Canes, but either way, Miami was certainly penciling him into their class up until this weekend.
As it closed in on the weekend before his announcement, things started to change and momentum had begun to shift to Bama. By Monday, I had confirmed with an STA source and a source close to the recruitment that he was all but set to Alabama. Both sources declined to comment on exactly what precipitated the flip to the Crimson Tide.
Alabama has been a thorn in the side of Miami’s D-Line recruiting efforts this cycle and Ingraham’s recruitment essentially played out exactly like Grayson (GA) 4-star DE Kevin Harris’ situation just a few months back in May. Coming off a visit to UM, Harris told Miami he was coming, but wanted to hold off to make a planned public announcement on TV. The weekend before his announcement, though, Nick Saban got into Harris’ ear and convinced him to flip to the Crimson Tide, leaving Miami empty-handed.
Even though they were caught off guard, just like when Harris’ defection occurred, Miami will have to pick themselves up and recover quickly with their defensive line recruiting, as this cycle is less than 2 months away from the early signing period.
Who could Miami go after on the D-Line now? While I fully expect Miami to continue their pursuit of Lehigh Senior 4-star DT Quashon Fuller, CIS has confirmed that Miami has been in contact with two “new” names as of late, which are Forest Park (GA) 4-star DE Justin Eboigbe and Many (LA) 3-star DE Myron Warren.
Eboigbe in particular is interesting because he’s a name that has been on UM’s radar in the past. Back in February, former UM D-Line coach Craig Kuligowski offered Eboigbe, however, shortly afterwards, Kuligowski defected to Alabama, and contact between Eboigbe and Miami died down. It wasn’t long until Eboigbe followed Kuligowski to the Crimson Tide and committed to play in Tuscaloosa. Things have changed lately for Eboigbe though, and he has elected to look around at other schools, one of which has been Miami. Eboigbe told CIS yesterday that he is working on setting up an official to Miami next month, so there seems to be some legitimate interest on his part. Although Miami is currently recruiting him as a DE, Eboigbe has the body type at 6’5” 265 that UM likes to move inside to DT within a year or so after the player hits campus.
The Canes have also been in touch with Warren in the past few weeks, and like his potential as an edge rusher at 6’4” 235. Although Miami has not come through with an offer as of yet, Warren told CIS that UM has intimated one could be coming soon. For his part, Warren seems completely wide open and would like to take a visit to Miami soon. Texas, Oregon, and Tennessee are some others that have offered Warren as of now.
In terms of players you could see Miami get involved with down the road, keep your eye on East (UT) 4-star DT Siaki Ika and Cedar Grove (GA) 4-star DT Rashad Cheney. Although Miami has not been in contact with either as of yet, both Ika and Cheney are on Miami’s radar and both told CIS they would definitely be interested in taking visits if they started hearing from the Canes. Cheney is the more interesting name here, as he already has a UM offer and a teammate of his has been heavily connected to UM in recent months: 5-star WR Jadon Haselwood.
Also, don’t be surprised if Miami kicks the tires on Carol City 3-star DT Malcolm Ray or Miami Northwestern 3-star DT Calijah Kancey. Miami was in contact with both during the spring evaluation period, but never pulled a trigger on an offer, and the two went ahead and committed to USF (Ray) and Pitt (Kancey) instead. Ray in particular has had a monster senior season for the dominant Carol City defense in 2018 and has seen some bigger programs begin to take interest in him, including FSU.
