UM Recruiting Scoop

USNAVYCANE

All American
Maude
Joined
Nov 2, 2011
Messages
22,059
* Quarterback recruiting is done. The Canes have three solid commitments and none of them took any other recruiting visits. Preston Dewey and Gray Crow will enroll next month and be here for spring football. David Thompson will not enroll early, as he's one of the state's premier baseball players and will play that for his senior season.

* With two running backs already in the fold (Duke Johnson and Danny Dillard), the Canes are still seeking another one, it appears. I think the only way they take one is if it's an elite kid. 4-star Wes Brown plans to visit here next month officially. He's already been to UM on his own dime and I keep hearing the Canes could be as high as in his top two, along with Vanderbilt. We'll know a lot more after his visit. PA 4-star Greg Garmon is another one to keep a close eye on. He has Miami and Iowa as his top two. He's probably more of a safety prospect at Miami.

* The Hurricanes have five wide receivers committed so they've done a nice job meeting that recruiting need. There are two major targets still out there, though. One is Robert Lockhart and the other is Amari Cooper. Lockhart, from Palm Beach County, is committed to Virginia Tech but visited Miami a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it. He's a mid year guy so expect him to have a final decision very soon. Cooper remains committed to Alabama but the UM coaches are not giving him and have been recruiting him hard lately. Bama still has the edge but it's not over.

* Tight end is a major recruiting need and there's just one current commitment -- Brandon Hollifield, a first year football player who was injured for a good part of this season. It has to be considered a disappointment how things have gone recruiting tight ends this year. Look for the Canes to continue looking for others into January.

* The Canes have three offensive linemen committed and two of them plan to enroll for spring -- tackles Ereck Flowers and Taylor Gadbois (a bounceback from the 2011 class). The third is OG Danny Isidora. The Canes have a few major prospects scheduled to visit in January -- Ryan Brodie (NJ) and Joshua Garnett (CA) are two of them. Getting a 4th OL in this class isn't a sure thing but they're still recruiting certain players.

* The Canes have three solid commitments at defensive end -- Jelani Hamilton, Dwayne Hoilett, and Jake O'Donnell -- so that need has been met. Tyriq McCord is still an option but he's a longshot, considering he's already visited and doesn't have the Canes in his top two. At tackle, Earl Moore is already committed. The top target remains to be 5-star Eddie Goldman. He visited here recently and has the Canes in his top three along with Alabama and FSU. That one will likely come down to the wire.

* Five linebackers are currently committed so they also did a very good job recruiting to that need. They may not be done, either. The top remaining target is former commitment Keith Brown, who recently switched his pledge to Illinois. The Canes are trying to get him back and we should know sometime soon. Keep an eye on Louisville and especially Ohio State here, too.

* Four cornerbacks are committed, including a few mid-year guys so that hole was met nicely as well. The biggest remaining target appears to be PJ Williams, an FSU commitment who visited here a few weeks ago. Miami continues to give itself a good chance there.

* Rayshawn Jenkins is the lone safety commitment right now but they don't appear to be done. Deon Bush and Willie Bailey, a couple of local standouts, are still being recruited. Bush has Miami and Auburn as his top two, while Bailey (a one time UM commit) is committed to Florida and will be tough to flip in the next couple weeks.
 
Advertisement
OL Kaleb Johnson was the most impressive prospect I saw at last year's game and he ended up being recruited heavily by Miami and became a freshman starter at Rutgers this season. CB Nate Dortch is playing in the game and I'm excited to watch him play live (not just in a camp) for the first time.

* We're currently in a dead period on the recruiting calendar. College coaches can still talk to kids on the phone and through emails and stuff like that but there's no in-person contact permitted. In other words, coaches can't visit the prospects at school or in their homes for the next couple weeks. The contact period picks back up the first week of January. Miami's next set of official visitors will be the second weekend of January so look for things to really heat back up at that time.

* As we begin the dead period, lets take a look at some of the numbers. The Canes likely have room to add about seven or so more players. QB seems done. They appear to be trying to add one more elite level RB, one more top notch WR, at least one tight end, one more offensive lineman, two more defensive linemen, and at least one more DB.

* I spoke to WR Robert Lockhart again today. He told me that he wasn't able to make it back down to UM for a return visit but still wants to. He's still waiting to make his final decision because of that. He is still committed to Virginia Tech but took an official visit to Miami a few weekends ago. He plans to choose one of those two programs and is a mid-year guy, which means he will have to make a final decision in the next couple weeks. It's unclear whether he'll flip but the Canes are still very much in the game.

* Keep an eye on 4-star DT Omari Phillips. He committed to Florida as a junior but decided to schedule an official visit to Miami about a month ago. He never took that visit but I keep hearing that he will, indeed, take a visit to Miami next month. He's one of the state's top defensive line prospects and will be playing in the US Army All-American Game in a couple weeks. Phillips is friends and teammates with UM commit Danny Dillard.

* Safety is still a position that needs filled and one of the prospects that's jumped on the radar lately is Jacksonville's Lynn Griffin. At 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds, Griffin is a very good football player who went both ways -- and had a nice prep career as a running back. He is committed to Southern Miss as a RB but Georgia Tech (Jan 21 visit) and Miami have recently jumped in the picture at safety. Griffin is a good-sized, physical, and pretty athletic safety prospect who could end up taking a visit here next month.
 
Thanks, Navy. I get the feeling we would be doing much better in recruiting, even with the mediocre product we had on the field last year, if we didn't have the NCAA cloud hanging over us. I know that sounds like a "duh" post, but without the NCAA, we could offer early playing time to a lot of freshmen. I can't imagine how much negative recruiting is going on out there.
 
Advertisement
Advertisement
Back
Top