As early as last week, West Hills, California QB Brad Kaaya was planning on making his college decision in June. Today, Kaaya is a Miami Hurricane.
"I've been considering it with my parents and I was talking with my mom on Mother's Day and we figured out that Miami, Alabama, LSU, Florida State, USC, and Ohio State are the face of college football from the past two decades. There's nothing bigger than playing for Miami and I was high on their board. It's a great staff and they had genuine feel," said Kaaya.
Now that he's committed, Kaaya is turning his focus to his football season.
"It feels good to get it lifted off my chest. I didn't want to spend all summer with the recruiting. I want to win a championship so this is big for me and my team. I see a lot of potential in this class. Kc McDermott and Joe Yearby are a couple guys I've seen so we can do some big things for sure."
Something that helped influence his decision in favor of Miami was seeing the team up close.
"I went to practice and saw guys like (Phillip) Dorsett and Duke Johnson. They have some great athletes in that Dade County area. I talked to Stacy Coley when I was down there and seeing highlights of guys like that opens my eyes."
A topic of discussion lately has been the number of quarterbacks that Miami has been after in this recruiting class, including Alin Edouard being committed.
"I've seen him (Edouard) play and he's a good athlete. There's competition everywhere and Kevin Olsen is a class ahead of me. Ryan Williams is there, Gray Crow, Preston Dewey are there too. The one who wins will be the intellectual guy to lead the team down the field."
Although this move could attract other top programs, Kaaya says that Miami getting on him early was a huge factor for him.
"I'm sure other schools will reach out, but Coach Coley reached out first. I don't wanna go somewhere that I was their 2nd or 3rd pick. I'd rather be a priority, not a possibility."
Kaaya is already feeling the effects of the FSU-Miami rivalry.
"Some FSU fans were tweeting saying I'm only a 2-star and stuff like that. They were saying if I would have committed to FIU that it would have been a big deal. It's just a part of the rivalry."
**The last name "Kaaya" has been traced back to Hawaii, Far East Asia, and East Africa.
"I've been considering it with my parents and I was talking with my mom on Mother's Day and we figured out that Miami, Alabama, LSU, Florida State, USC, and Ohio State are the face of college football from the past two decades. There's nothing bigger than playing for Miami and I was high on their board. It's a great staff and they had genuine feel," said Kaaya.
Now that he's committed, Kaaya is turning his focus to his football season.
"It feels good to get it lifted off my chest. I didn't want to spend all summer with the recruiting. I want to win a championship so this is big for me and my team. I see a lot of potential in this class. Kc McDermott and Joe Yearby are a couple guys I've seen so we can do some big things for sure."
Something that helped influence his decision in favor of Miami was seeing the team up close.
"I went to practice and saw guys like (Phillip) Dorsett and Duke Johnson. They have some great athletes in that Dade County area. I talked to Stacy Coley when I was down there and seeing highlights of guys like that opens my eyes."
A topic of discussion lately has been the number of quarterbacks that Miami has been after in this recruiting class, including Alin Edouard being committed.
"I've seen him (Edouard) play and he's a good athlete. There's competition everywhere and Kevin Olsen is a class ahead of me. Ryan Williams is there, Gray Crow, Preston Dewey are there too. The one who wins will be the intellectual guy to lead the team down the field."
Although this move could attract other top programs, Kaaya says that Miami getting on him early was a huge factor for him.
"I'm sure other schools will reach out, but Coach Coley reached out first. I don't wanna go somewhere that I was their 2nd or 3rd pick. I'd rather be a priority, not a possibility."
Kaaya is already feeling the effects of the FSU-Miami rivalry.
"Some FSU fans were tweeting saying I'm only a 2-star and stuff like that. They were saying if I would have committed to FIU that it would have been a big deal. It's just a part of the rivalry."
**The last name "Kaaya" has been traced back to Hawaii, Far East Asia, and East Africa.
