2021 West Orange (NJ) 3-star WR Jayson Raines earned his 4th ACC offer in late January when outside linebackers coach Jon Patke visited him at school to give him the good news that he had a scholarship from the Miami Hurricanes.
“My coach called me out of class and I walked into my coach’s office and saw the bright orange jacket and I was like ‘That’s Miami!’,” Raines said. “[Patke] was saying how they watched my tape, they really liked me, and they wanted to offer me a scholarship. They wanted me to come down for one of the spring practices or the spring game.”
Following that meeting with Patke, Raines said he actually scheduled a visit to come down to Florida and watch the Hurricanes’ spring game in April, but it was cancelled because of the coronavirus concerns.
“It was incredible, it was something that I thought would never really happen being from Jersey,” Raines said of the UM offer. “But people are recognizing me now, it made me very popular at school, and it made some noise for sure. It was great, especially with my family ties, so it meant something.”
The family tie Raines is referencing? That would be Alfredo Roberts, a two-time national champion at UM as a tight end in the 80’s that was drafted into the NFL; Roberts currently coaches TE’s for the LA Chargers.
“One of my mom’s cousins played for the U, Alfredo Roberts. So I have a family tie to the Canes, and it will be interesting to come down there and see it,” Raines said. “I actually have a lot of family down in Miami, I was born in Orlando, Florida. A lot of my mom’s family is in Miami, I just went down there for Christmas. So, I have that family connection and that connection to the area already.”
Other schools involved with Raines that have offered include Maryland, Syracuse, Rutgers, Wake Forest, Pitt, and Vanderbilt, while Michigan has recently gotten in contact with the West Orange star. Most of his Power 5 attention started coming when the calendar flipped to 2020, so Raines said he didn’t get a chance to feel out most of his new options before the shutdowns.
“I don’t really have any leaders since I haven’t seen many schools yet and I can’t really decide,” Raines said. “Some schools I was planning on visiting would be Michigan, they invited me to come up. I’ve already visited Maryland, Rutgers, Wake Forest, I want to go to Vanderbilt and Pitt. Probably after a couple more trips, I’ll be able to figure out my top 5 or so. I was planning on doing that around May or June, but I’m not sure now with everything going on. I hope to have it by the summer.”
One of Raines’ more recent trips was to see Rutgers, and he described the visit as having plenty of personal time with the Scarlet Knights’ staff.
“It was more of an individual type of visit with a teammate,” Raines said. “They drove us around campus and showed us what it was like, they took us to the indoor facilities and the athletic facilities. We had a one-on-one talk with our position coaches and got to take pictures at the end. It was awesome.”
With a tentative decision timetable to choose a school just before his senior season starts, Raines will also sign in December, though he does not plan to enroll early.
“Some coaches won’t always be there at the school, so I need to like the environment of the school and the education,” Raines said of some factors he’ll be using. “Also, the offense they run, I want to see if it’s compatible with me and how they incorporate receivers of my size.”
As a junior in 2019, Raines put up 700 yards and 12 TD’s for the 7-4 Mountaineers.
“Things went very well my junior year, especially after having a down sophomore year,” Raines said. "I led my team to their first playoff win in who knows how many years. I led the team in receiving touchdowns and I performed very well, especially in the first year with a new coach and in the toughest public school division in New Jersey.”
What will Raines be working on heading into the 2020 season?
“I’m working on my speed and my route running. I’m already a big, physical receiver that can go up top, and I can stretch the field.”
“My coach called me out of class and I walked into my coach’s office and saw the bright orange jacket and I was like ‘That’s Miami!’,” Raines said. “[Patke] was saying how they watched my tape, they really liked me, and they wanted to offer me a scholarship. They wanted me to come down for one of the spring practices or the spring game.”
Following that meeting with Patke, Raines said he actually scheduled a visit to come down to Florida and watch the Hurricanes’ spring game in April, but it was cancelled because of the coronavirus concerns.
“It was incredible, it was something that I thought would never really happen being from Jersey,” Raines said of the UM offer. “But people are recognizing me now, it made me very popular at school, and it made some noise for sure. It was great, especially with my family ties, so it meant something.”
The family tie Raines is referencing? That would be Alfredo Roberts, a two-time national champion at UM as a tight end in the 80’s that was drafted into the NFL; Roberts currently coaches TE’s for the LA Chargers.
“One of my mom’s cousins played for the U, Alfredo Roberts. So I have a family tie to the Canes, and it will be interesting to come down there and see it,” Raines said. “I actually have a lot of family down in Miami, I was born in Orlando, Florida. A lot of my mom’s family is in Miami, I just went down there for Christmas. So, I have that family connection and that connection to the area already.”
Other schools involved with Raines that have offered include Maryland, Syracuse, Rutgers, Wake Forest, Pitt, and Vanderbilt, while Michigan has recently gotten in contact with the West Orange star. Most of his Power 5 attention started coming when the calendar flipped to 2020, so Raines said he didn’t get a chance to feel out most of his new options before the shutdowns.
“I don’t really have any leaders since I haven’t seen many schools yet and I can’t really decide,” Raines said. “Some schools I was planning on visiting would be Michigan, they invited me to come up. I’ve already visited Maryland, Rutgers, Wake Forest, I want to go to Vanderbilt and Pitt. Probably after a couple more trips, I’ll be able to figure out my top 5 or so. I was planning on doing that around May or June, but I’m not sure now with everything going on. I hope to have it by the summer.”
One of Raines’ more recent trips was to see Rutgers, and he described the visit as having plenty of personal time with the Scarlet Knights’ staff.
“It was more of an individual type of visit with a teammate,” Raines said. “They drove us around campus and showed us what it was like, they took us to the indoor facilities and the athletic facilities. We had a one-on-one talk with our position coaches and got to take pictures at the end. It was awesome.”
With a tentative decision timetable to choose a school just before his senior season starts, Raines will also sign in December, though he does not plan to enroll early.
“Some coaches won’t always be there at the school, so I need to like the environment of the school and the education,” Raines said of some factors he’ll be using. “Also, the offense they run, I want to see if it’s compatible with me and how they incorporate receivers of my size.”
As a junior in 2019, Raines put up 700 yards and 12 TD’s for the 7-4 Mountaineers.
“Things went very well my junior year, especially after having a down sophomore year,” Raines said. "I led my team to their first playoff win in who knows how many years. I led the team in receiving touchdowns and I performed very well, especially in the first year with a new coach and in the toughest public school division in New Jersey.”
What will Raines be working on heading into the 2020 season?
“I’m working on my speed and my route running. I’m already a big, physical receiver that can go up top, and I can stretch the field.”
