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Recruiting Radar: Weekend Recap 1/25

Another big visit weekend had plenty of things to update. Get caught up on all the events here.

By Cameron J. Underwood
Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Another big recruiting weekend is in the books, this one, however, passed without a commitment. But, that doesn't mean that there wasn't movement on the recruiting trail. Let's get caught up on the storylines, shall we?

Glen Logan cancels official visit

The #1 target along the DL for the Canes, DT Glen Logan decided on Friday morning that he was not going to take his official visit to Miami.

So, what happened? Logan's primary recruiter, LSU DL coach Ed Orgeron, happened. And, if you believe the "$EC bagmen" stuff (that's real, not conjecture), then you could probably add that on top of Orgeron talking to Logan as well.

Basically, in the course of a few minutes Logan went from a "probable flip to Miami" to "cancels visits, 100% solid to LSU".

And that, friends, is the wonderful world of recruiting.

Sam Bruce moves up official visit...

4-star WR Sam Bruce, the top rated commit in the 2016 class, was scheduled to visit Florida this weekend. For whatever reason, that didn't happen. Some say UF canceled on Bruce. Others say Bruce decided to cancel. Whatever. He didn't go there.

Where he DID end up visiting, however, was Coral Gables. Bruce was one of the many recruits on campus this weekend -- I even saw that group at the UM-Wake Forest basketball game on Saturday afternoon. Where does that leave us? Well....

...And sets announcement date

So, more on Sam Bruce.

He's reportedly going to announce his "final decision" on Twitter sometime today/Monday.

Bruce has visited Ohio State and Miami (and others), but those are considered the top 2 contenders for his services. There was HEAVY chatter that Bruce would flip to OSU....but there are now whispers that that might not be an option. There are also rumblings that FSU is trying to get into the game with Bruce, but I'm skeptical of that, as they haven't been linked with him seriously for quite some time.

As of now, after all the whispers and rumors and reports and tweets and edits and....all that stuff, my gut says that Bruce will stay with Miami. But, that's just an educated guess. We'll find out more later/soon/sometime Monday.

This week's surprise visitor part deux: Isaiah Chambers!

While Sam Bruce's visit was a mild surprise since he's a commit and was scheduled to be on campus next weekend anyway, the "off the radar" surprise visitor this week was 4-star DE Isaiah Chambers.

Chambers, a Houston native and TCU commit, is a top 150 player in this class, and has very good talent from the defensive end position. This visit has to be a direct result of DL coach Craig Kuligowski's recruiting prowess (Kool has recruited Texas and Louisiana for years).

While it remains to be seen how much this visit will impact Chambers' decision, getting a player of his caliber on campus has to be considered a positive. I'm not expecting anything to come from this, but hey, we can always hope, right?

Chambers' highlights are below:

What's going on with Latrell Williams?

Ok. So. Here goes:

Last week, late-rising WR Latrell Williams committed to Miami. (miss that? You can read our commitment piece here). In the aftermath of that commitment, Williams said he canceled all his other visits and his recruitment was over.

Then, during the week, there were conflicting reports that Williams was going to visit Tennessee. Miami coaches tried to dissuade him from taking this visit, eventually to no avail. So, Willliams DID visit Tennessee. THEN, on Sunday morning, Williams took "University of Miami commit" our of his twitter bio, then cryptically tweeted "no interviews"

So.....what does this mean? In my estimation, it's fair to think that Williams decommitted, or at least is taking some time to come to a final decision for his collegiate destination. Unlike a player like, say, Sam Bruce, who has been around high level recruiting for years, this is all new to Williams. He was unranked, unrated, and an overlooked commit to USF just as recently as 3 weeks ago. His recruitment has gone from 0 to 100 in record time. He's now a relative household name in the recruiting world, and is ranked as high as 4-stars according to some recruiting services.

Is there a chance that Williams ends up at Miami? Yes. Is it a sure thing? Not by a longshot.

Jovani Haskins likes Miami. But...

So, good news and bad news on NJ WR/TE Jovani Haskins.

Good news: he really liked his visit, had a good time with his player host (Al-Quadin Muhammad), and bonded well with the coaches.

Bad news: in spite of all that, Haskins still says West Virginia is his #1 school (he's repeatedly talked about his affinity for the WVU air raid offense and his ability to fit into said offense).

I have a feeling that, despite our best efforts, Miami won't be the school that Haskins chooses to play for.

Miami pushing hard for Ahmmon Richards

A former Miami commit, WR Ahmmon Richards is the top target on the board for Miami now. He's coming off a visit to Alabama which he reportedly enjoyed (I mean, who wouldn't?!).

In the aftermath of that visit, Mark Richt (probably with WR coach Dugans and maybe another coach) will have an in-home visit with Richards on Thursday. That's going to be a time when Miami really pushes to get the supremely talented Richards back in the 2016 class.

Richards is scheduled to announce his collegiate destination on ESPNU sometime on National Signing Day. Miami is reportedly confident they're in a good position for this recruitment, and this is a big one. Richards is a player who will play from day 1 in college, no matter what school he chooses. With only 5 returning WRs on the roster, Miami could sorely use a player of his talent level.

Stay tuned.

Tyler Byrd update

4-star CB Tyler Byrd was on campus this weekend. He's one of the top players in this class, so it was good to get him down to Coral Gables.

He's scheduled to visit Tennessee next week, where his friend and teammate RB Carlin Fils-Aime is committed. But, Byrd says it will be "hard" for Tennessee to catch Miami. It's not a done deal, but I feel good about this one.

Lucas Niang has hangup on Miami

Well, not him, but....you'll see. 6'7" OL Lucas Niang, a Connecticut native, visited campus this weekend. He reportedly had a good time, and is strongly considering Miami for his commitment. Niang's top 3 are Auburn, TCU, and Miami, but there's a hang up.

Niang's parents are reportedly not sold on the idea of him attending school in Miami. I mean, I have no idea why any parent would think their kid from up north would come to sunny Coral Gables and stop doing their schoolwork. Completely shocking to me. (that was sarcasm, guys. save your comments)

In every recruitment, you have to find the "decision maker". Sometimes, it's the player. Other times, it's a family member (mom? dad? uncle-who-raised-the-kid?). So, for Niang, without his parents' blessing, I find it hard to see him at Miami.

No Randrecous?!

Ok, this may just be me, but I'm really surprised that 3-star WR Randrecous Davis didn't commit to Miami on his visit this weekend. Like, I sat at my computer all day ready to write that article. But....the commitment never came.

Everything I'd seen about Davis, who is committed to Georgia, suggested that he was going to flip to Miami and follow Richt to Coral Gables. But....that didn't happen. Now, it could be that Davis wanted to go back home and discuss his decision with his parents. Or, like Glen Logan, he could have changed his mind and wants to stay committed to Georgia (I mean, he does have a G tattoo on his left bicep, afterall).

So, I guess we'll just wait and see what happens.

James Wiggins decommits

Talked about this in the last couple Class Breakdowns (every Wednesday, so stay tuned for that), but CB James Wiggins was on his way out of this class for a while.

After some contact with CB coach Mike Rumph, it became less clear that he would be gone. However, when Wiggins canceled his OV to Miami this week (or was told to not show up), he instead went to Illinois, where former UM DB coach Paul Williams now works.

Shortly before that visit started, Wiggins took to twitter to announce his decommitment from Miami.

Wiggins is the latest player to be dropped by Mark Richt and staff, joining several others who were once committed and have been told to seek shelter elsewhere. He's a nice kid and a fine player, but all parties will be better suited with Wiggins finding another institution to attend and play for.

And, on we go.

Miami offers Kicker

So, there's this, from 2016 K Jordan Strevig

Recruiting is all about the future, so maybe this is a move to be prepared for when Justin Vogel and Michael Badgley are out of eligibility. What's also unclear at this point is whether this is a scholarship offer, or a preferred walk-on offer, the latter of which are extremely common when it comes to specialists. We should know soon.

Kicking highlights? You betcha.

Not recruiting, but...

In case you've been living under a rock, you know that Miami Athletics has a partnership with adidas for apparel. adidas reportedly wants to make Miami their "Oregon", a comment to the connection between the Ducks and Nike.

So, in a move along that path, adidas has created Miami Hurricanes themed Ultra Boost sneakers

On top of that, Coca-Cola is making a University of Miami specific flavor, too.

No, those aren't recruiting updates, but they're cool, right?......RIGHT?!?!

The Final Push

So, as of the publishing of this article, we're 9 days from National Signing Day 2016. While the coaches are on the road and working 24/7 to close commits, we here at SOTU are going to kick the coverage up as well.

So, look for daily updates with (nearly) everything that's out there every morning, and as much of the recruiting landscape as I can give you.

Crunch time is now. Let's see what CMR and staff have for us to close this class.

More as it's available.

Go Canes

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