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Hurricanes Player Previews: A Closer Look At Legacy Anthony Chickillo

2013-05-16T16:24:38Z

In an effort to keep even the most hardcore Miami fan up to date on their favorite players, SOTU will be running a Player Profile series. In these posts, our writers will profile two players from each position that they think should get more face time. They will recap their previous year, or in some cases, preview what may be to come. That way, when the season get's here, you hopefully will have a new found love for the team on the field.

Chickillo loves Miami, and the fans love him. (Credit: Kevin Liles-US PRESSWIRE)

Anthony Chickillo

Junior - Defensive End - 6'4" 270lbs - Tampa, Florida

In 2010, Randy Shannon was in the midst of recruiting for the 2011 season, without quite knowing what was ahead. The jewel of that class was Anthony Chickillo. A 5 star Under Armour All-American defensive end, Chickillo was much more than that to the Hurricanes. His father, Tony Chickillo, and his late grandfather, Nick Chickillo, both played at UM, and Coach Shannon had known Anthony since he was a baby. He represented a third generation recruit, which made him a must-have player.

Throughout his recruitment, which included around 55 offers from schools across the country, he stressed that his family's history with the school was important to them, but not as important to him. In the end, however, he realized that he was meant to go to Miami. His mind may have thought otherwise, but his heart was always in Coral Gables. When we committed, he held up a shirt with a picture of an Ibis. Above the picture were the words "Blood Is Thicker Than Water." That said it all.

"Orange and green run through my veins," said Chickillo, who plans to enroll at UM in January. "As much as I tried to separate it, I couldn't. Once I figured out where I wanted to go, I didn't want to waste any coaches time. I told Coach Shannon and the staff last night and they were screaming."

On defense, Chick can do it all. (Credit: Joel Auerbach-Getty Images)

Chick, as he has become known, had a breakout first year in 2011. Miami was under new head coach Al Golden, and new defensive coordinator Mark D'Onofrio. He played in all 12 games that year, although he only started in nine of them. He finished tied for the team lead in sacks, had the seventh most tackles, and rounded out his freshman season third in the ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year voting. Not bad for a first year player, although, when you come in as such a highly touted player, that sort of thing is expected.

His sophomore campaign would see similar numbers, although most would say it seemed based on watching the games that he had a down year. That sort of perception is hard to overcome, considering most thought that his second year in the Miami uniform would be beastly. The defense as a whole struggled, but seeing as he is on the front line of the defense, a lot of the blame gets placed on him and his fellow linemen. It's understandable, however, that he would have an average year, given the lack of push in the defensive middle. Opponents were able to key in on him, and take him out of the games for the most part, because there wasn't much of a threat from anywhere else. He still finished with more unassisted tackles than assisted, the same number of tackles for loss, and one less sack for a total of 4 more yards than his freshman year. His stats weren't bad by any means, they just weren't what fans, and most likely Chick himself, expected.

He's now entering his junior year, and is by far one of the leaders of the defense. The coaching staff has done what they could to improve the defense, get more of a push up front, and there's every right to think they will be better in 2013. Whether it's because everyone is healthy, older, one year wiser, or even slimmed down, quicker, and better conditioned, there are any number of variables that could make this defense improve over last year. Perhaps the biggest one, though, is that it would be tough to get any worse.

Pain. Lots of pain. (Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE)

They know that, though, and if I was a betting man, I would put my money on this team being more focused, more driven, and for that to show itself on the field. As far as Chick's junior year, it's hard to say what should be expected out of him. We tried to predict that last season, and it didn't pan out. Looking at everything that has happened since then, and what should happen going forward, it's hard not to think that he will have a much better year. He's way too talented to settle for 5 sacks a year for four years. Is he going to break out and drop opposing QB's at a Jadaveon-esque clip? Probably not, but what you should see if a man who is in better shape, has put in the work in the gym to get quicker off the line, and who's main focus is inflicting as much pain on the other side of the ball as possible.

I think Chick exceeds his freshman and sophomore numbers, and I think he shows exactly why 55 schools wanted him on their team.

Miami Hurricanes Recruiting Radar #2: Who Commited, Who Didn't, and What Comes Next

2013-05-14T15:40:02Z

The month of March and early April was very good for Miami Hurricanes recruiting. What's happened since then? Joe Garcia, Lt. Philip Nolan, and Cameron Underwood take a look:

Who We Got

Everybody knows that Defensive Tackle is a position of GREAT need for the future. The Canes started to address this area by gaining a commitment from Pearl River (MS) CC/Defuniak Springs (Fla) Walton DT Dalvon Stuckey. The 6'3" 300lb Stuckey is doubly valuable: he's a much needed addition to the Canes class for 2013, and he's now removed from the class for the school to which he had signed in 2012: Florida State. Miami hasn't been too successful in the past couple of classes recruiting head to head against FSU, but Stuckey's commitment may be the beginning of a positive trend in this area.
Early on Monday morning, Brennan Carroll dropped a tweet that has become a favorite of Canes fans.

#WelcomeToTheU !!!!!
— Brennan Carroll (@brennanpcarroll) May 13, 2013

Affectionately known as "The Bat Signal" this tweet does 2 things: lets the Twitterverse know that Miami has gained a commit, and starts the speculation as to which recruit has given his pledge to Miami.

After much speculation as to when it would happen, we quickly received word from multiple outlets that the player is in fact priority target Brad Kaaya, a QB from West Hills (CA) Chaminade . Kaaya himself seemed pleased with his decision

Officially a Miami Hurricane and have no intent on going anywhere else.
— Brad Kaaya (@TrinidadBrad) May 13, 2013

Feels great to be a Hurricane. Fan base second to none, coaching staff is very experienced, best athletes in the U.S., and I ❤ THE CITY 🌴🌞🌇
— Brad Kaaya (@TrinidadBrad) May 13, 2013

Kaaya is a very talented player, standing 6'4" 214lbs, with a plus arm and advanced coverage reading ability. He was identified early on by James Coley as a priority target, and Miami was his first offer back in early March. Along with Hialeah's Alin Edouard, Kaaya gives the Hurricanes 2 QB commits in this class. He is a 3 star player now, but his stock figures to rise throughout the spring evaluation period and his senior season. This is a HUGE, MAJOR GET by the staff. You can read Lt. Nolan's take on Kaaya's commitment here

With the addition of Stuckey and Kaaya, the Canes are now up to 8 commits for the class of 2014. There is a lot of positive momentum, and Al Golden and Co. are looking to maintain or elevate that momentum through the summer and a (hopefully) successful season.

Who We Lost

Obviously, the big name that got away was Plantation (Fla) American Heritage 5 star RB Sony Michel. Michel, one of the top players in the country and a long time Canes target, elected to give his verbal commit to the University of Georgia on April 26th. This was a development that wasn't a surprise, but that doesn't make it any less painful. To many fans and pundits, Michel was a "can't miss/must get" player for a variety of reasons. As it stands now, the Canes missed and didn't get him. There have been rumors and conjecture as to exactly WHY Michel chose Georgia, but I'll let that stay on twitter and message boards.

Word On The Street

Even with Kaaya and Edouard on board, the staff stays hot on the trail of a few more QB prospects. At the top of this list is Mobile (AL) Faith Academy QB Malik Rosier. Rosier went on record and stated that Miami was his leader BEFORE he even received an offer. Once he did, it was pretty clear that Miami stood a great chance to land his services. Behind Rosier stands Charlotte (NC) West Mecklenburg QB Jalan McClendon, who has said that his top two schools by far are Miami and NC State. McClendon is a bit more of a project than Kaaya or Rosier, but is still a good talent.
Another player who is high on Miami is San Antonio (TX) Roosevelt CB Arrion Springs. A 5'11" speedster with good coverage skills, Springs is an admitted Canes fan, and had been anxiously awaiting an offer from his favorite school. He has recently said in interviews that Miami and Oregon are in front, in that order. Springs has plans to visit both Coral Gables and Eugene this summer. If he likes what he sees, he could commit to either school. But, Miami is the clear front runner as of this moment.
Speaking of Edouard, even though he still remains committed to Miami, there has been speculation for a while that his commitment was a bit shaky. He has stated multiple times that he is looking around, although he claims that its more or less just due diligence. With today's pickup of Kaaya, however, the talk of Alin bolting became more prevalent, with Louisville the likely landing spot if he does ultimately leave. However, it was updated a bit after the Kaaya dust settled that James Coley had called Alin's coach, informed him that his offer still stood, and the reports back were than Alin was ready to compete. Whether that remains the case moving forward remains to be seen.
Over the last few weeks, Miami coaches have seemingly made a more aggressive push to get former commitment Travis Rudolph back in the fold. Rudolph had previously de-commited and has strong interest in Florida but has seemingly settled in and changed his perspective towards Miami. From Miami's stance, it doesn't seem much has changed they still badly want him as a defensive back and that ultimately might send him elsewhere as he wants to play WR but this is shaping up as a solid Miami/Florida battle at the moment now that things most of the issues leading to his de-commitment seem to have been smoothed over.
On the WR board, Miami is likely looking at taking 2 or 3 this cycle with Ermon Lane being the big prize that Miami will wait on until the end. Lane has Miami and Bama out in front with Florida looming as the main darkhorse option. After Lane the options are plenty, JoJo Robinson is looking like a matter of time before he flips to the Canes at this point and Johnnie Dixon might be the next highest priority after Lane and is a player the coaches would desperately like to land. His will be an interesting case study as Dwyer has historically been a big UF pipeline and they look to be shaping up as Miami's main competition at the moment. This is Miami's 1st real push for a player from Dwyer since Jacoby Brissett in 2011 and rumors are abound that Dwyer coach might not be too happy with Florida coaches are the way they handled him. It's something to keep an eye on to see if Miami can get their foot in the door and pull out a star player like Dixon.

Who's Next?

Last month, we said Miami (Fla) Northwestern DE/LB Michael Smith was leaning toward a commitment, even going so far as saying the chances of him ending up a Cane were "90%". The waiting game with Smith continues, but there has been nothing to indicate that his stance on Miami has changed. Smith has said that he wants to announce after his spring football session, so it could be any day now.
While there aren't names associated with them yet, there has been talk of a few big name DT's (Yes, dear readers, DEFENSIVE TACKLES) that will be committing to Miami in the coming weeks. I tried digging a bit into this to see if I could get a read on who they might be, but so far have come up empty handed. There is quite a list of players that could fit this bill, names like Trevonte Valentine, Anthony Moten, Khairi Clark, Julio Derosier (JUCO), Thomas Holley, and Lamont Gaillard. Landing any of these two would be great for Miami, but getting more than two is definitely something the Canes would like. If I had to put my absolute best guess on who the likely culprits are, I would put my money on Valentine and Derosier. Valentine has said recently that he very well could commit, and that Miami was more or less in the lead for him. While his commitment would certainly be labelled by many to be one not to bank on until the ink is dry, he would be a huge get. Derosier is a JUCO kid who has been on Miami's radar recently. There has even been talk of him taking a few classes and being able to enroll as part of the 2013 class, which would be fantastic.
Campers! Miami's has their annual camps coming up in the next few weeks and without a doubt we can expect some new names to pop up, some familiar names to receive offers, and a new commit or two will emerge from the process.

Canes Drop Series to Demon Deacs, Continue To Struggle In ACC

2013-05-13T20:08:39Z

On Friday, Miami opened up a three game series in Winston-Salem against Wake Forest. Miami collected 12 hits, which resulted in an 8-3 series opening victory. David Thompson led the way going 2-4 with a homerun, double, 3 RBIs, and a run scored. Tyler Palmer and Chantz Mack were both 3-4 and Palmer scored three runs as Mack scored two and drove in two as well. Freshman Bandon Lopez homered for the first time in his career too. Chris Diaz had another solid outing as he went seven innings, giving up just one run on seven hits and striking out seven. With the win, Diaz improved his record to 5-4 and his ERA is 1.41. Aj Salcines surrendered two runs in the 9^th inning, but would eventually get Mark Rhine to fly out and end the game, giving the Canes a fourth straight win.

Miami was looking to win game two to win the series, but would blow the game in the 9^th inning and fall to the Demon Deacons 5-4. The Canes trailed 3-0 after Bryan Radziewski allowed three runs in the first. He would not give up any more runs on the day as he went seven innings and struck out ten. Miami would add a run in the 2^nd and 4^th innings, both driven in by Brandon Lopez to cut the lead to 3-2 entering the 8^th inning. Miami struck for two runs in the top of the 8^th as Lopez struck again delivering a two RBI single to give the Canes a 4-3 lead, which was their first of the game. Miami took the lead into the bottom of the 9^th with closer Eric Nedeljkovic looking to end the game, but he gave up an RBI double to Charlie Morgan to tie the game and a single to Matt Conway to give Wake the walk-off win. Radziewski had a rocky first inning, but settled down to have another quality start. Even though he gave up three runs, his ERA still stands at 1.26. Brandon Lopez was 3-4 and drove in all four Miami runs and Alex San Juan was also 3-4 with a run scored.

The Canes were looking to win the rubber game and take the series on Sunday, but would fall Wake Forest 9-3. The game was tied at three after six innings, but the Demon Deacons struck for six runs in the bottom of the 8^th to give Wake the 9-3 win. Miami didn't have much offense as they only collected five hits, but David Thompson and Garrett Kennedy each homered, resulting in all of Miami's runs as Thompson hit a solo home run while Kennedy hit a two-run homer. Andrew Suarez struggled with his command as he only went 4 1/3 innings while giving up three runs on four hits and walking five. Javi Salas took the loss tossing 1 1/3 innings and giving up three unearned runs on one hit and one walk.

This was another bad weekend for Miami was they should've been able to at least take two games from Wake Forest. Wake was 7-18 in the ACC entering the series, but took two of three from the Canes. Miami's record is now 33-20 and 12-15 in the ACC with one series remaining. Miami is currently fifth in the coastal division and there's a chance they might not make the ACC tournament with the ACC being so strong this year. Miami will welcome Georgia Tech to Coral Gables for a three game series beginning on Thursday. Georgia Tech is currently third in the coastal with an overall record of 32-20 and 14-13 in the ACC. This will be another tough series as Georgia Tech has a good squad and they took two of three from previously top-ranked North Carolina this past weekend. Thursday and Friday's games are at 7:30 and the regular season finale is Saturday at 1.

Talented California QB and Three Star Recruit Brad Kaaya Picks Miami

2013-05-13T14:22:32Z

Golden is going back to Cali, and he's coming back with another player. After pilfering the west coast last year to get Devante Bond, he sent his staff back to West Hills to pick up consensus 3 star and pro-style QB Brad Kaaya.

Miami courted Kaaya for quite a while before the QB pulled the trigger. They had to contend with the likes of Arizona State, Stanford, and UCLA for Kaaya's services. There was always mutual interest between Miami and Kaaya, and that interest only grew after his visit to UM.

Kaaya is a pro-style passer that stands 6' 4" and weighs in at 214. He definitely has the build to be an NCAA quarterback, and shows that he has the arm as well. If he can prove that he can manage the mid-range game as well, he could be a very good player for the Canes. He certainly would come in in a good position to threaten the starter, who many think should be Kevin Olsen.

Kaaya is a consensus 3 star commit at the moment, but that could certainly change as the recruiting cycle continues on. He is not the first QB commit the Canes have locked down, as he joins dual threat protege Alin Eduoard on the Canes' commitment sheet. He is also not the last QB that Miami is targeting, as they have at least 4 more that have been offered, and more certainly to come.

Welcome To The U, Brad!

Miami at Nebraska for Big Ten/ACC Challenge

2013-05-08T20:28:06Z

Courtesy UM

Miami at Nebraska for Big Ten/ACC Challenge
http://gocan.es/YFFrv3

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami will face Nebraska in Lincoln on Wednesday, Dec. 4 as part of the 2013 Big Ten/ACC Challenge, as announced on Wednesday.

This will be the fifth meeting between the two schools, but the first time in the Challenge. The Hurricanes won the first matchup in 1951, but the Cornhuskers have taken three-straight with wins in 1971 at the Husker Classic, and both 2000 and 2006 in the Orange Bowl Classic.

The 15th annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge Presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods on Dec. 3-4 will be highlighted by eight teams in an ESPN.com early preseason top 25, including six of the top 11 teams: No. 3 Michigan State, No. 5 Duke, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 8 Syracuse, No. 9 Michigan, No. 11 North Carolina, No. 20 Indiana and No. 25 Iowa. Three of the games will pit ranked teams against each other: No. 9 Michigan at No. 5 Duke, No. 11 North Carolina at No. 3 Michigan State and No. 20 Indiana at No. 8 Syracuse.

ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will combine to televise all 12 games of the two-day event matching top college basketball programs playing for conference supremacy and the Commissioners Cup. All 12 games will also be available via WatchESPN.

All 12 Big Ten teams and 12 of the 15 ACC teams will participate in the 2013 Challenge, including the three newest ACC members Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Syracuse. Clemson, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest will not play in the 2013 event.

The ACC and Big Ten split last year’s Challenge with six wins each. In the event of a tie, the Commissioner’s Cup remains with the conference that won the previous year, which was the Big Ten in 2011. The ACC holds a 10-3-1 Challenge record, winning the first 10 events (1999-2008) while the Big Ten won the next three (2009-2011).

· Tourney Teams: 14 teams between the two conferences played in the 2012 NCAA Tournament: Duke, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Syracuse from the ACC, and Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State and Wisconsin from the Big Ten.

· First Challenge Matchups: Seven of the 12 games will mark first-time Challenge matchups: Michigan at Duke, Maryland at Ohio State, Miami at Nebraska and Boston College at Purdue plus the debut of the three new ACC members Syracuse against Indiana, Notre Dame at Iowa and Pittsburgh against Penn State.

o Syracuse and Indiana have met five previous times with Syracuse winning the past four games, including last season’s NCAA Tournament Elite Eight matchup.

o Duke is 21-8 all-time against Michigan, including victories in the 2011 NCAA Tournament and 2011 EA Sports Maui Invitational.

o In addition to first-time Challenge games, several of the teams are infrequent opponents: Nebraska holds a 3-1 record against Miami; Purdue won both previous meetings against Boston College; Ohio State and Maryland last played in 1985 with Ohio State winning three out of the five overall games; and Notre Dame will play Iowa for the first time since 1990 and holds a 8-5 series record.

o Pennsylvania rivals Pitt and Penn State will meet for the first time since 2005 with Pitt winning the past five contests.

· Shot at the Bakers Dozen: Duke has won more than any team, taking 12 of its 14 Challenge games.

· Following a First with a Rematch: Illinois and Georgia Tech and Wisconsin and Virginia will follow their first-time Challenge meetings in 2012 with a rematch in the 2013 event.

o Illinois defeated Georgia Tech and Virginia beat Wisconsin in last year’s Challenge.

· Best Three Out of Five: North Carolina and Michigan State and Minnesota and Florida State will meet in the Challenge for the fifth time with each program holding a 2-2 record against their opponent.

o North Carolina, with an 11-3 overall record against Michigan State, won games in 2008 and 2009. Michigan State won the games in 1999 and 2000.

o Minnesota won the Challenge games in 2000 and 2012 and Florida State in 2004 and 2007.

· Rubber Match: Northwestern and NC State will square off in the Challenge for the third time. Northwestern won in 2009 and NC State in 2002.

2013 Big Ten/ACC Challenge schedule (times and networks are to be determined):

http://theacc.co/B1GACC050813

Tuesday, December 3

Florida State @ Minnesota

Illinois @ Georgia Tech

Indiana @ Syracuse

Michigan @ Duke

Notre Dame @ Iowa

Penn State @ Pittsburgh

Wednesday, December 4

Boston College @ Purdue

Maryland @ Ohio State

Miami @ Nebraska

North Carolina @ Michigan State

Northwestern @ NC State

Wisconsin @ Virginia

Canes Sweep Johnnies To Rebound From Last Weekend

2013-05-07T16:18:13Z

On Friday, Miami welcomed St. John's to The Light for a three game series. This was the final non-conference series for the Canes. Miami's bats were productive for a change as they scored a season high 12 runs en route to a 12-5 series opening victory. The offense was lead by Brad Fieger and Brandon Lopez who each had three hits. Fieger was 3-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Lopez was 3-4 with a walk, 2 RBIs and a run scored. Chris Diaz was solid once again tossing a scoreless 6 innings while allowing just one hit and striking out six. Diaz retired 14 of the last 16 Red Storm hitters he faced and improved his record to 4-4. He also lowered his ERA to 1.42.

On Saturday, Miami was looking to win the series over St. John's and they did just that with a 4-2 win. The Canes were down 1-0 until the bottom of the 4^th when they scored 2 runs to take the 2-1 lead. St. John's would respond with a run in the top of the 5^th to tie the game, but Miami would regain the lead with 2 runs in the bottom of the 5^th, which would result in the final score. Bryan Radziewski was sharp as usual going 8 innings while allowing just 2 runs (1 earned) on 6 hits and 8 strikeouts. Chantz Mack, who was celebrating his birthday, led the way offensively going 3-3 with a triple, an RBI and 2 runs scored. David Thompson also contributed going 2-4 and also adding 2 RBIs. Eric Nedeljkovic tossed a scoreless 9^th inning while striking out 2 to earn his 11^th save. Radziewski got the win improving his record to 8-1 and his ERA stands at 0.97.

The Canes were looking to sweep the Red Storm on Sunday, and were able to do so recording a 6-4 victory. Five starters had multiple hits for Miami, led by Alex Hernandez who went 2-4 with 3 RBIs. Tyler Palmer, David Thompson, Garrett Kennedy, and Ricky Eusebio all added 2 hits as well. Even though he didn't factor in the decision, Andrew Suarez was pretty good again going 6 2/3 innings while giving up 3 runs (1 earned) on 6 hits and 6 strikeouts. Eric Whaley came on in relief of Suarez tossing 1 1/3 innings while allowing an unearned run on 1 hit to receive the win and improve his record to 2-1. Eric Nedeljkovic threw a 1-2-3 9^th to record his 12^th save.

This was a much-needed sweep for Miami after they lost 2 of 3 to a bad Boston College team last weekend. Miami's record now stands at 32-18 and 11-13 in the ACC. The Canes are currently 5^th in the coastal division, with Wake Forest and Georgia Tech remaining on the schedule.

There is no mid-week game this week, so the next time the Canes take the field will be on Friday in Winston-Salem as they take on Wake Forest in a three game series. Friday's game is at 6, Saturday at 4, and Sunday at 1.

Former Miami Hurricanes QB Testaverde Inducted To CFB Hall Of Fame

2013-05-06T19:52:15Z

Miami's presence in the College Football Hall Of Fame just got a huge boost. The University announced on Monday that former Canes Vinny Testaverde has been elected to the Hall.

Testaverde, who played at Miami from '83 to '86, is one of the school's two Hesiman Trophy winners (Toretta being the other), and is one of the more famous of the school's quarterbacks. You could of course argue that Jim Kelly, Gino, or Kosar would be up there, but you could not really go wrong with any of them. Granted, many fans would put Vinny towards the bottom of that list because of his horrible game against PSU, but then again, he's a big reason why they were in that game to begin with.

Vinny absolutely deserve to be inducted into the HOF, and it has been a long time coming. He joins a long list of Miami players and coaches already in the Hall:

Bennie Blades (Safety)
Don Bosseler (Fullback)
Andy Gustafson (Coach,VT/UM)
Jack Harding (Coach, Scranton/UM)
Ted Hendricks (Defensive End)
Jimmy Johnson (Coach, UM/OkSt)
Russell Maryland (Defensive Tackle)
Gino Torretta (Quarterback)
Arnold Tucker (Quarterback, UM/Army)
With the addition of Vinny, Miami has 10 total. It's a fantastic honor to be inducted, and there will sure to be more former Canes enshrined in the future.
Congrats, Vinny!

*Note: Jerome Brown was also nominated by Miami, but only Testaverde was inducted. Jerome will have his day. He's the boss.

SOTU EXCLUSIVE! Welcome to the U Part Two! Canes Hoops Lands Overseas PG

2013-05-01T22:38:43Z

The University of Miami basketball team rebounded quickly after losing star point guard Shane Larkin to the NBA Draft, picking up his replacements. The school announced on Wednesday that second team all-Big 12 point guard Angel Rodriguez was transferring from Kansas State, the Puerto Rican star having played high school ball nearby at Dr. Krop High School. In exclusive news, SOTU (with an big assist from fellow hoop junkie @JoshDaCane aka Josh Frank) has learned that the Canes signed point guard Emmanuel Lecomte of Belgium to a National Letter of Intent (NLI). This was confirmed by sources close to the team.

Lecomte, who goes by Manu (or now that he's a Cane we'll refer to him as Man-U!), is a 17-year old (1995) point guard who plays for Mons-Hainaut, a team in the top-flight Ethias League. At his age, he has seen only minimal time for the senior team, whose starting lineup up of former American college players such as Jonathan Wallace of Georgetown and Quincy Taylor of UAB, but has led their reserve team with an average of 20 points and 5 assists this past year. Lecomte has also played for the Belgian national team at the U16, U18 and U20 levels. He confirmed to SOTU that he "just sent the papers to the school" and chose Miami because, "Miami is a really good program with a great coaching staff . And they play in ACC , the best conference of the country." His primary recruiter was assistant coach Michael Huger, who played professionally in Europe for 11 years, including nine as a star in Belgium. Asked what he liked about Coach Huger, Lecomte responded he "was a great point guard in the past... I enjoyed talking with him."

We asked Lecomte, who says he is 5'11", 165 pounds, to describe his strengths and weaknesses. "I'm true point guard with a good decision making, I'm quick and I can shoot from everywhere. I will need to improve on my body, gotta get more at the weight room." The Belgian Youth Basketball blog (http://belgianyouthbb.wordpress.com) described him as "very, very talented" who "already has tons of experience for his age" and "can take over a game."

Lecomte plans to be on campus at the end of June and can play immediately. Congrats to the staff on finding this diamond in the rough!

Here is a brief highlight video of Lecomte.

Highlights: Emmanuel "Man-U" Lecomte (via SIDELINEBASKETBALL)