Two-sport Miami commit AJ Randle made his way down from North Carolina for his official visit this past weekend with the Canes. A top-10 linebacker in the 2027 class, the Garner product was a clear priority for this Hurricane staff who holds him in an even higher regard than his top-100 ranking.
I spoke to Randle following his official visit where he broke down what went into his decision and what impressed him on his visit.
Here’s everything the four-star linebacker had to say to me for CanesInSight.
On his overall visit:
“It's really good to be here. I recently committed, so it's good to be back at a place I'm going to call home.”
“It's been exciting, it's been fun being around everybody, being with what’s going to be my teammates.”
On the highlights of his visit:
“Most definitely just the camaraderie of everybody. From the guys who have already committed to some of the guys on the team we had great times, great laughs.”
“We went on a speedboat, the photo shoot was really fun. We did a lot of fun stuff.”
On why he committed to Miami:
“From the top to bottom in this program, I think that everybody recruited me and they just made me and my family feel at home. My mom is comfortable, my dad is comfortable — everybody's comfortable with this place and that's really what I wanted.
“Just a place that could be an extension of what we call home, and this place does that for us.”
On coach Hetherman and Cristobal:
“It's great coaching here, coach Hetherman is an excellent coach so we just have a lot of good stuff around us. He's really special, he's an NFL style coach, one of the best coaches in the country.”
“Coach Cristobal man he’s just coach Cristobal — not a lot of words you can say.”
“He's just an excellent person. It's hard to not have a good connection with him and I think we have an excellent connection. I think it is true and I appreciate that.”
“And so I think to be coached by that every day, to be around it every day is just going to do big things for me and my future and kind of get me to the places that I want to go in my life.”
On the staff’s message for him:
“Definitely be that versatile guy: play inside the box, outside the box, play off the edge a little bit.”
“Just be that guy who can make plays everywhere on the field and do good things for the team.”
On possibly participating in track & field at UM:
“We talked to the track coach, I had a good conversation with the track coach as well.
“Our big time goal is for me to be a dog in the 400 meter hurdles and the dog on a football field.”
On his recruiting efforts this weekend:
“We had some good conversations with all the linebackers on the visit and we also been trying to get Jaiden Bryant to go ahead and make that flip. Me, Donte [Wright] and Ezekiel [Ayangbile], we just been chopping it up with him, seeing where he’s at and how he feels about school.”
On what he wants Canes fans to know about him:
“I'm an athlete.”
“You’re going to get a dog on me and I appreciate you guys for wanting me, having me and welcoming me into the family.”
I spoke to Randle following his official visit where he broke down what went into his decision and what impressed him on his visit.
Here’s everything the four-star linebacker had to say to me for CanesInSight.
On his overall visit:
“It's really good to be here. I recently committed, so it's good to be back at a place I'm going to call home.”
“It's been exciting, it's been fun being around everybody, being with what’s going to be my teammates.”
On the highlights of his visit:
“Most definitely just the camaraderie of everybody. From the guys who have already committed to some of the guys on the team we had great times, great laughs.”
“We went on a speedboat, the photo shoot was really fun. We did a lot of fun stuff.”
On why he committed to Miami:
“From the top to bottom in this program, I think that everybody recruited me and they just made me and my family feel at home. My mom is comfortable, my dad is comfortable — everybody's comfortable with this place and that's really what I wanted.
“Just a place that could be an extension of what we call home, and this place does that for us.”
On coach Hetherman and Cristobal:
“It's great coaching here, coach Hetherman is an excellent coach so we just have a lot of good stuff around us. He's really special, he's an NFL style coach, one of the best coaches in the country.”
“Coach Cristobal man he’s just coach Cristobal — not a lot of words you can say.”
“He's just an excellent person. It's hard to not have a good connection with him and I think we have an excellent connection. I think it is true and I appreciate that.”
“And so I think to be coached by that every day, to be around it every day is just going to do big things for me and my future and kind of get me to the places that I want to go in my life.”
On the staff’s message for him:
“Definitely be that versatile guy: play inside the box, outside the box, play off the edge a little bit.”
“Just be that guy who can make plays everywhere on the field and do good things for the team.”
On possibly participating in track & field at UM:
“We talked to the track coach, I had a good conversation with the track coach as well.
“Our big time goal is for me to be a dog in the 400 meter hurdles and the dog on a football field.”
On his recruiting efforts this weekend:
“We had some good conversations with all the linebackers on the visit and we also been trying to get Jaiden Bryant to go ahead and make that flip. Me, Donte [Wright] and Ezekiel [Ayangbile], we just been chopping it up with him, seeing where he’s at and how he feels about school.”
On what he wants Canes fans to know about him:
“I'm an athlete.”
“You’re going to get a dog on me and I appreciate you guys for wanting me, having me and welcoming me into the family.”
