clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Recruiting Radar - Monday 9/21

Just your regularly scheduled recruiting roundup.

By Cameron J. Underwood
5-star ATH Mecole Hardman visited Coral Gables this week. How'd it go? Find out here.
5-star ATH Mecole Hardman visited Coral Gables this week. How'd it go? Find out here.
247Sports

Hey there Canes fans. I'm back with another Recruiting Radar update. Let's get it poppin'

Canes add 2017 commit

Shortly after  the Canes 33-30 OT victory against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 2017 S Ahman Ross committed to Miami. He's the 8th player to commit in the #Squad17 class, and first DB to join the group.

You can read more about him right here.

5-star ATH enjoys visit to Miami...

The headliner of this weekend's pair of official visitors, 5-star ATH Mecole Hardman from Georgia, seemed to enjoy his visit. Know how I know? Twitter. Take a look.

Miami was lit? Ibis gave him some personal attention? Had a great time? 10/10 visit?

This pleases me greatly.

In a recruiting recap by Bleacher/Report recruiting analyst Damon Sayles, Hardman graded his OV to Coral Gables "9 out of 10". A tick lower than the tweet embedded above, but still a great reaction.

"Miami's always been like a dream school to me," Hardman said to B/R's Sayles. "I went there on an unofficial and loved everything about it. I only was able to stay half a day then, but I loved it. It's a place I'm really considering."

I don't know if this visit puts Miami in the driver's seat for Hardman, but we're closely connected and he seems to be sincerely interested. It's odd that he took his OV here so early, but you gotta work with that sometimes. Hardman came to campus, so now, there's a legit shot the Canes land the talented playmaker.

Just how big of a chance remains to be seen.

...And so does elite hoops duo

Not only was Mecole Hardman on campus for a visit this weekend, but Canes Hoops hosted 2 4-star players for their OV as well.

High School and AAU teammates Brison Graham, a 6-9 PF, and DeJon "Deeky" Jarreau, a 6-5 combo guard, were visited Coral Gables this weekend. Heading into the weekend, the pair was said to have 3 finalists for their services, but have now whittled their list to 2.

Finalists for the pair (who are more than likely a package deal)? Miami and UMass.

1 recruiting analyst has picked UMass on the Crystal Ball as the pairs' final destination.

3 others have picked Miami as the final choice.

With Early Signing Day for basketball around the corner (November 11 to November 18), Miami is in need of a serious push to close on the talented teammates.

Coach L has worked his magic before, landing JaQuan Newton from Philly. Now, let's hope he has enough juice to pull this dynamic duo from the deep South in much the same way.

The great unknown

Joining the aforementioned Hardman in taking his OV to Coral Gables this weekend was DE/OLB Marvin Terry from Texas.

Unlike Hardman, who at least had SOME presence on social media, Terry was radio silent. In fact, I saw that his last tweet of any kind was on September 9th.

So, I know he visited. Or, was supposed to visit.

But apart from that, IDK what to tell you.

#Swag16 commit visits elsewhere

After starting his weekend with a 21-6 win with his Wellington Wolverines

2016 WR commit Ahmmon Richards made a return visit to to Tuscaloosa to visit the Alabama Crimson Tide. This is Richards' 2nd visit to Tuscaloosa, and he will more than likely return again for an Official Visit later in this cycle.

Alabama, who is clearly looking to add depth at receiver in this class, has offered 43 of them according to 247sports. Even among a group littered with 4 and 5-star talents, Richards seems to have emerged as a player that Nick Saban and company covet above the rest.

At this point, Richards is firmly committed to Miami, but just keep this in the back of your mind for later in the cycle when he starts his OVs and National Signing Day approaches. Canes could be in for a battle here.

#Swag16 commits continue to dominate

Man, this class is full of good players. InsideTheU.com has compiled a list of stats for Canes commits ($) which you should probably check out.

Highlights from that group:

WR commit still on the sidelines

In case you didn't know, WR commit Dionte Mullins hasn't played a game this season due to academic issues. His Gullver Prep team (including teammates and fellow UM commits Joe Jackson, Cedrick Wright - he of the 27 tackle game, and superstar 2017 RB Robert Burns) had the week off.

Before the season when the academic issues were uncovered, it was said that Mullins might be able to play around October. And, if you haven't looked at a calendar, that's next week.

I haven't heard or read anything about this since it came out that Mullins would miss time, but I'm following this story closely.

Rankings and class quality

Earlier in this cycle, I said that this class would probably drop from the #1 spot. That was due to a number of reasons, including having such a HUGE number of commits so early (20+ commits in June), other teams adding top guys (which always happens), and several of our commits being underrated.

In the past few weeks, Miami has seen the #Swag16 class go from top ranked to outside the top 10. According to 247sports' composite rankings, Miami has the 11th best recruiting class in America.

And you know what? I'm fine with that.

When you look at the players we have committed, several are STILL underrated in my opinion. Guys like Travis Homer (now the #1 RB in Florida), and Reginald Henderson (a top 10 WR in FL this cycle but has never played varsity football until this year due to academic ineligibility), and Ahmmon Richards (who is still woefully underrated), and Deion Jackson (who missed all but 1 game last year with injuries) are among the names who should, in my mind, be ranked higher than current.

Furthermore, if you look at this class, what do we have?

We have 22 commits, and 21 of them are from Florida. And most of those 21 are from SOUTH FLORIDA, the area the fanbase has (rightfully) wanted to see Miami recruit more heavily.

This class isn't perfect. But, it's damn good. And, if you trust your evaluation process, you go with what you got.

Would I like a top notch DT or another athletic/versatile defender to join this class? Absolutely.

But, overall, no matter what the number is associated with this class, this is a collection of talent that can and will help the Canes be competitive in future years.

There will be attrition -- there always is. There will be additions -- there always are.

But, at this point, I'm pleased with this class. And, I think that you should be too.

------------------------------------

That's it for now.

Questions? Thoughts? Leave them in the comments below.

GO CANES!!!