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On the heels of a PACKED official visit weekend, and just days before the next one, here's some chatter from the recruiting trail
Jayson Stanley to visit Miami
4-star WR Jayson Stanley (Fairburn, GA) will be visiting Coral Gables on January 30th. The 6'2" 198lb Stanley, who is committed to Georgia, will visit UCF this weekend as well. It's still too early to say how legitimate a chance Miami has, but the fact that he's scheduled an official visit Should mean we have at least a puncher's chance.
... but Shareef Miller won't
A 3-star DE from Philadelphia, PA, Shareef Miller has seen a slight uptick in his recruitment. A day after receiving an in-home visit from multiple coaches from UF, Miller tweeted his new finalist group
No #Canes RT @MillerShareef: Pitt, Rutgers,Penn state, Arizona state, Florida Gators our my finalist ❗️❗️committing between those schools
— StateOfTheU.com (@TheStateOfTheU) January 20, 2015
The visit from UF jumped them over Miami, who was in his final group and set to receive his last OV on January 30th. But now, that won't happen. It's a "loss" to have Miller elect not to continue his recruitment with Miami, but it's far from the worst thing ever. He'll move on, and the Canes will too.
Kevin Scott is rising fast
Largely unknown until recently, Salesian HS 3-star DT Kevin Scott (Los Angeles, CA) is one of the fastest risers of the latter part of this cycle. The 6'5" 280lb Scott has recently earned a Canes offer, and will be visiting this weekend. On top of that, USC offered recently, and has vaulted to the front of the pack. Scott will be on campus to visit Miami this week, and a good visit will be crucial for there to be any chance that Scott signs with the Hurricanes.
Gosier decommits
So, as I was writing this article, this popped up on twitter:
I Have Officially Decommitted From University Of Miami
— Therrell Gosier ll (@livinglegend13) January 21, 2015
WR Therrell Gosier II has decommitted from Miami. He was the lowest rated recruit in this class, and many (myself included) were never fans of his. On top of that, hes' a local player who has only visited campus twice, neither of which were officials.
With the options we have committed and are still recruiting at WR (Lawrence Cager, Antonio Callaway, Daylon Charlot, Terrell Chatman, Jayson Stanley), I think it's best for all parties that Miami and Gosier will be going their separate ways.
Decisions coming soon?
Several players who Miami is recruiting may be narrowing down their lists in advance of announcing their decisions. Primary among them is 4-star CB Marcus Lewis (Washington, D.C.).
Decision coming soon
— Marcus Lewis (@THE_NUMERO_UNO) January 21, 2015
Lewis, who loved his visit to Miami last week and subsequently named the Hurricanes as his leaders, is the primary target at DB left for this class, and adding him would be a big recruiting win. Predictions for Lewis to Miami are becoming the norm, with the last 3 predictions (and 6 of the last 8) on 247Sports' Crystal Ball have him heading to Coral Gables.
Another player who may be close to a decision is 3-star OLB Quart'e Sapp (Alpharetta, GA), who recently tweeted this:
I will be deciding from these 4 Schools pic.twitter.com/QuWuGHXmWR
— Quart'e Sapp (@Dedicated_2Work) January 21, 2015
Sapp visited Miami unofficially for the FSU game in November. He has plans to visit Michigan State this weekend, but no plans for January 30th as yet. For Miami have a realistic chance here, they need to get Sapp on campus for an Official Visit. And, even if they do, it may be all for naught. Tennessee is widely thought to be Sapp's final destination at this point.
Another target, Booker T. Washington WR Antonio Callaway, has moved Miami into his final group, according to Manny Navarro of the Miami Herald. With a final group of Alabama, Miami, and West Virginia, Callaway seems to have left out his presumed childhood favorite team: the Florida Gators. While that may true, Callaway still has a visit to UF scheduled for January 30th. A decision may be made before then, but I don't think we'll know what that is until National Signing Day.
Positive reviews from last visit weekend
Overall, there were positive reviews from the January 16th Official Visit weekend. On top of that, several players tweeted out further reactions to their visits.
missin the 305 #Miami
— Russell Ude (@russude_vr) January 20, 2015
#TheU #Miami #Hurricane #UM enjoying my time down here in #MIA
— WALKING LEGEND ‼️ (@ArdenKey) January 20, 2015
Can't wait to spend my next four years here! #TheU #nextlevel pic.twitter.com/rZhY29OpGQ
— Ryan Fines (@RyanJFines) January 20, 2015
What You Guys Think 4 ? It's All About TheU Cane Gang pic.twitter.com/IVfOMN2GmR
— Mark Deuce Walton Jr (@F5_DEUCE) January 19, 2015
Quick hits
A couple links for you guys
- Christy Cabrera-Chirinos of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel wrote this great piece on OL commit Bar Milo
- Christy Cabrera-Chirinos also wrote this piece about Brad Kaaya embracing his role in the recruiting process.
- Matt Porter of the Palm Beach Post wrote this piece about the Hurricanes trying to regain momentum in recruiting prior to National Signing Day ($).
- Matt Porter also broke down Mel Kiper's predictions on where former Canes may be drafted.
- The final Rivals.com recruit rankings are out. On this list (which Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald details) Mark Walton is the highest ranked commit at 69th. Highest ranking targets: John Houston (30th), Rasheem Green (33rd) and Marcus Lewis (80th).
- Susan Miller Degnan of the Miami Herald wrote this great piece on Canes legacy Scott Patchan, an early enrollee for this class.
- Christina De Nicola of FoxSports.com took a look at the returning roster for next year's Canes.
- Pro Bowl DE and former Cane Calais Campbell donated $1.6 Million to endow a scholarship for a DL at Miami. It's the largest gift from a former Hurricane player ever.
- Want see what Sun Life Stadium will look like once fully renovated? I knew you did.