- Malik Bryant gives Miami a much-needed alpha dog in the Front 7. He put up big numbers as a freshman at the Orlando public school level and was a highly productive leader for IMG the past two years. He's been locked in on Miami for weeks. As we reported, he moved his commitment ceremony for logistical reasons. Despite reports, the Gators never had a chance and were flailing.
- Miami is continuing to trend in the right direction for DB Jayden Bonsu (Hillside, NJ). It's not a done deal, but he wants to be a Cane and is coveted. This could be resolved sooner than later.
- I continue to expect OL Tommy Kinsler (Ocala) to pick Miami tomorrow. Even after he moved the commitment date back, he's been locked in with the Canes and was never at risk of losing his offer. The staff is extremely high on him.
- We've made a run at DT John Walker (Osceola) and he is a huge priority, but my money would be on UCF.
- Last week, I said the two remaining WR spots would likely go to some combination of Hykeem Williams (Stranahan), Andy Jean (Northwestern) and William Fowles (Avant Garde). But we are making a strong run at Jurrion ****ey (Oakland, CA). He is visiting this weekend and we believe he's an elite talent. This is not necessarily an imminent flip situation, but you can’t catch the fish if the line isn’t in the water.
- The conversations continue with Hykeem Williams, but that is a battle that could stretch for a while. We're constantly reminding him and his circle that he's a very high priority.
- William Fowles has some major fans in the building. At least one coach saw him live and thought he looked better than some more famous, Top 50 kids. I think the last step for him getting into the class may be an on-campus workout in front of the full staff, as we saw with Andy Jean.
- Speaking of Jean, he skyrocketed to high-priority status when he worked out on campus. He wasn’t always a national recruit and is experiencing certain things in the process for the first time. Based on my conversations with people around Jean, this is a tougher battle than it's been in the past but the Canes are still firmly in play. We're recruiting him extremely hard and are trying to get him back on campus as soon as possible.
- We kept OL Payton Kirkland (Orlando) warm, but ultimately he did not have enough fans in the building and was not a take. We're continuing to aggressively pursue other targets and there could be a potential surprise on OL.
- OL Frankie Tinilau (LaSalle) is up and running here in Miami after some green card issues. A non-Miami source spent some time with him and said he was absolutely massive with very little bad weight. He's receiving strong West Coast interest but appears solid to Miami.
- S Joenel Aguero’s choice of Georgia did not surprise my sources, who never felt great about him. The staff have been monitoring safeties and are zeroing in on Penn State commit Conrad Hussey (STA) and Clemson commit Kylen Webb (Sarasota). One source compared Hussey to a smaller Jordan Battle with his ability to convert turnovers into touchdowns. The word that kept coming up was “dynamic.” This makes sense, as Hussey was a youth star at RB. STA sources believe Hussey will be very receptive to Miami’s interest. Coach Cristobal is a huge fan of his game.
- OL Samson Okunlola (Brockton, MA) remains at the top of the board. His recruitment is strange- folks involved think he is just as likely to commit tomorrow as he is to wait until NSD. Nobody really knows. But everybody agrees that Miami sits in a very strong position as the leader.
- Camp will tell us who can really play, and CanesInSight will be giving you the exclusive scoop on practice like we do every year. But I wanted to highlight some guys who have made an impression in workouts.
- RB TreVonte’ Citizen remains in line for early playing time. It would not surprise me at all if he’s starting at one point of the season. A team source said he is “an amazing kid, smart as sh*t” and brings toughness to the team. It goes without saying that he's built like an NFL RB and has big-time athletic ability. He may also factor on special teams.
- Several other freshmen have made an impression. The name that keeps coming up is WR Isaiah Horton. The words I’ve heard are “special” and “shades of Ahmonn Richards.” He's a worker from a military family, and is deceptively fast with ball skills. Of course, catching the ball in pads during camp will be a different test. DE Nyjalik Kelly was well on his way to 250 before some health issues, and some expect him to crack the rotation before the end of the year. CB Jaden Harris has drawn raves for his size (a rocked-up 195), movement skills and mature demeanor.
- Of the returning players, CB TeCory Couch was singled out due to his consistency and his weight gain.
- To quote a source, we have a “very good problem” at DT after hitting the transfer market. Expect some of the more athletic DTs to get opportunities at DE behind the top 3 of Mitchell Agude, Jahfari Harvey and Chantz Williams. Candidates to play inside/outside include Akheem Mesidor, Elijah Roberts and even Jared Harrison-Hunte. A team source said Mesidor could have been the “steal of the offseason” due to his versatility and ability to impact the QB. That’s an area we lacked last year, but the internal belief is that we’ve made huge strides. JHH was described as the best athlete and twitchiest of the DL.
- Some other names that were singled out to me from workouts: Antonio Moultrie, Wesley Bissainthe and Kam Kinchens.
. If this was last years staff our whole class would depend on him. No disrespect to the kid but I'm glad we've extended the board under Mario.
