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Hey guys. Let’s get our day started right, shall we?
Canes Hoops lands 4-star big man Deng Gak
On the heels of landing the best recruiting class in Miami Hurricanes Basketball history, Coach Larrañaga and company have kept the momentum going into the 2017 recruiting cycle. The latest pay off of their efforts was the commitment of 4-star C Deng Gak on Tuesday afternoon.
NEW SOTU #CanesHoops Lands Commitment From Talented Big Man @DengGak7 https://t.co/OpZ4T91ZN5
— StateOfTheU.com (@TheStateOfTheU) October 25, 2016
This is a big recruiting win for Miami. A top 130 player in this class by all services (91st in class in Rivals.com’s rankings), Gak picked Miami over 10 other offers, including Florida and Kansas, the programs he visited last prior to his announcement. ESPN had this scout’s take on how Gak fits at Miami ($). At 6’11” 209lbs, Gak will need time to add weight to bang in the post in ACC play, but he has very good skills on the perimeter as of now.
Gak joins 4-star PG Chris Lykes, and unranked Australian F Sam Waardenburg in Miami’s 2017 recruiting class. The Canes have 1 more scholarship available in this class. You can check out some of Gak’s game in the HL’s below.
Welcome to the U, Deng!
ACC Power Rankings
As with every week, Ricky Paolillo is back with his ACC Power Rankings, which you can see here:
NEW SOTU: ACC Power Rankings: Week 9 #Canes #GoACC https://t.co/9oCCMpewco
— StateOfTheU.com (@TheStateOfTheU) October 25, 2016
Once near the top of these rankings (and others, like, yanno, the AP and Coaches top 25 polls), Miami has tumbled in recent weeks. Will the Canes be able to turn it around? I hope so, and I hope it starts with a win at Notre Dame this Saturday afternoon.
Miami is still NFLU
Just a couple things for you to check out right quick:
.@CanesFootball alum & current @Panthers TE @GregOlsen88 giving back to the community with his charity The HEARTest Yard! pic.twitter.com/DU0ejAh1IB
— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) October 25, 2016
It's all about the... pic.twitter.com/zsw7niNbf9
— Canes Football (@CanesFootball) October 26, 2016
Highest-graded TEs entering Week 8:
— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) October 26, 2016
1. @gregolsen88, 91.9
2. @RobGronkowski, 90.4
3. @MartysaurusRex, 84.0
4. @TheJimmyGraham, 83.6 pic.twitter.com/eUgcdAMbxx
It’s a Canes thing.
You wouldn’t understand.
Quick Hitters
While Miami’s offensive line has been a part of the team that needs improvement, the pass catching hasn’t been far behind on the “my god, that’s terrible” list. Proof? Sure.
Out of 11 targeted players, only 2 have not dropped a pass
Not-good Miami stat, per @dgould151: Dayall Harris and Malcolm Lewis are the only Hurricanes to have caught a pass and NOT also dropped one.
— Matt Porter (@mattyports) October 26, 2016
And the breakdown of the drops is, well, bad.
UM drops: Richards 5; Coley 4; Njoku 3; Berrios, Dobard 2; Walton, Yearby, Herndon, Williams 1. Per ESPN, no P5 team drops at a higher rate.
— Matt Porter (@mattyports) October 26, 2016
Yeah. Need better, guys.
In addition to the above tweets, Matt Porter of the Palm Beach Post wrote about Miami’s mid-season MVP: CB Corn Elder.
Our Daniel Tummeley wonders if/when Miami will be able to get the ailing offense on track.
Our resident coach Justin Dottavio aka Ironman Football took a look at some famous plays from previous installments of Catholics vs Convicts.
And, lastly, if you missed yesterday’s news and notes, it’s right here
Miami Hurricanes News & Notes: Players returning from injury; recruiting notes #Canes #TheU https://t.co/84aemni2Kz pic.twitter.com/4jDRZfFWig
— StateOfTheU.com (@TheStateOfTheU) October 25, 2016
And poof, like that, he was gone.