Local Five-star WR Calvin Russell talks being a 'hometown hero' and recaps official visit

Sebastian Font
3 min read

The Miami Hurricanes are looking to end the misery of losing elite skill position talents from South Florida, and one of their main targets is five-star WR Calvin Russell. A Miami Northwestern product, the 6-foot-5 pass catcher also picked up an offer on the court from Jai Lucas as Miami looks to pull all the strings to keep him home. This will be a battle all the way until his July 5th commitment date and beyond, and I was able to catch up with him following his official visit. Here’s what Russell had to say:

Overall Recap from his visit:

“It was a nice visit. I got to know Miami a bit better, had a decent amount of fun, a decent bit of information. It was a great visit.”

“I really got to see the more versatile part of the program, like its fun and business at the same time.”

“I definitely feel better about Miami.”

On the staffs pitch to stay in Miami & his relationship with Malachi Toney:

“That this is home, like this is where I gotta be.”

“Mali’s my brother, so it's like, he wants me to be in the best place for myself. He definitely let me know, like if we together, we’re gonna push each other a lot. 
We're gonna push each other till we can't push each other no more.”

On the basketball side of his recruitment:

“[Basketball] is important in my decision, so we definitely talked about it. We got things right, and that's how it's going.”

(Mentioned wherever he’s going he will be playing basketball as well)

“I talked to coach Lucas. We sat down, and we had a talk. It was like everything went hand in hand, so it wasn't really a problem.”

On his recruiting process and timeline:

“Just going through the process and when I get done with my OV’s I’ll think about it more.”

“Oregon definitely made a great impression, 
Miami, LSU as well. I’m looking for who’s genuine and got a great plan for me and it's gonna help me push myself and take care of my family.

“After I commit, everything is all about ball.”

On what it would mean to stay in Miami to play for the U:

“Oh, it would mean a lot, 'cause I know I could be a neighborhood hero. I know the whole of Miami would love me, Miami got my back, so I feel that would mean a lot.”
 

Comments (300)

Basic talking points from CR , Maybe he saw different component to the program
but I doubt anything is mind blowing
discoveries..

He’s just playing everything too close to vest to my liking. I believe he’ll be a Canes, but this recruiting battle will go down to December..
 
Basic talking points from CR , Maybe he saw different component to the program
but I doubt anything is mind blowing
discoveries..

He’s just playing everything too close to vest to my liking. I believe he’ll be a Canes, but this recruiting battle will go down to December..
I can’t call him a headache because he hasn’t done anything crazy or led the program on. Like many said this will go down to the end. So let’s just buckle up for the ride. (PAUSE)
 
Colossal failure if he isn’t a Cane.

No excuses!

1. Mama went here and HOF
2. His position coach is classmate of his mama and are friends!
3. Goes to a feeder school
4. From Miami!
5. Can play basketball too
6. $$ ain’t a problem

Get it done!
 
Colossal failure if he isn’t a Cane.

No excuses!

1. Mama went here and HOF
2. His position coach is classmate of his mama and are friends!
3. Goes to a feeder school
4. From Miami!
5. Can play basketball too
6. $$ ain’t a problem

Get it done!
All of those are reasons why if he doesn't come here it literally means it wasn't a failure imo. Like what else would you want staff to do, it's not like they're ignoring dude lol.
 
Colossal failure if he isn’t a Cane.

No excuses!

1. Mama went here and HOF
2. His position coach is classmate of his mama and are friends!
3. Goes to a feeder school
4. From Miami!
5. Can play basketball too
6. $$ ain’t a problem

CCCs Get it done!
In this case, it’s not a “colossal” failure when certain members in his camp are looking for every reason not to come to Miami. This is one of the weirdest recruitments Miami has seen in a while. I understand Miami dropped the ball earlier in the year but Miami has done all they can to make him feel like a top priority. Some local people have unrealistic expectations from Miami and are impossible to please.

Mom being in the Miami HOF means absolutely nothing in this situation and is arguably hurting our cause.

KB has a friendship with mom yet didn’t even play a major role in these weekends activities. There is definitely a disconnection here between both parties. KB deserves criticism if this doesn’t work out.

What does basketball have anything to do with this? If anything, only proves he’s not serious enough about football.

If he comes then great, but if he doesn’t, i don’t think it’ll be as “colossal” as some think, as long as we hit on others.
 
Does that make it not a failure if they tried hard?
how are you so consistent with the sarcastic truth that nobody wants to hear but is relevant ... that's a helluva talent
 
In this case, it’s not a “colossal” failure when certain members in his camp are looking for every reason not to come to Miami. This is one of the weirdest recruitments Miami has seen in a while. I understand Miami dropped the ball earlier in the year but Miami has done all they can to make him feel like a top priority. Some local people have unrealistic expectations from Miami and are impossible to please.

Mom being in the Miami HOF means absolutely nothing in this situation and is arguably hurting our cause.

KB has a friendship with mom yet didn’t even play a major role in these weekends activities. There is definitely a disconnection here between both parties. KB deserves criticism if this doesn’t work out.

What does basketball have anything to do with this? If anything, only proves he’s not serious enough about football.

If he comes then great, but if he doesn’t, i don’t think it’ll be as “colossal” as some think, as long as we hit on others.
I'm with you on this one. Maybe he really doesn't wants to come. If that's the case . We tried nothing more we can do. I don't consider it a failure at all. With all the other top targets at that position. We hit on 2 or 3 of those we good 👍
 
In this case, it’s not a “colossal” failure when certain members in his camp are looking for every reason not to come to Miami. This is one of the weirdest recruitments Miami has seen in a while. I understand Miami dropped the ball earlier in the year but Miami has done all they can to make him feel like a top priority. Some local people have unrealistic expectations from Miami and are impossible to please.

Mom being in the Miami HOF means absolutely nothing in this situation and is arguably hurting our cause.

KB has a friendship with mom yet didn’t even play a major role in these weekends activities. There is definitely a disconnection here between both parties. KB deserves criticism if this doesn’t work out.

What does basketball have anything to do with this? If anything, only proves he’s not serious enough about football.

If he comes then great, but if he doesn’t, i don’t think it’ll be as “colossal” as some think, as long as we hit on others.
Nobody cares about effort homie…only results!

The defense tried to play but failed miserably. Nobody cares! We want Wins!
 
Doesn’t matter! You get the prize for the wins and all the **** for the losses. Nobody cares about trying. They want to see results!
I mean sure. But also you can't force a kid to pick us lol. If Russell Picked LSU and we got Keys, nobody would be calling it a colossal failure imo. So clearly there is some amount of grey to it being a win/fail...
 
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