Hello, friends! The Recruiting Dead Period is over, and that means Official Visits are back! Let’s take a look at the first group of players visiting Miami as we move toward National Signing Day 2017.

Official Visitors

There are 6 players visiting Miami this week. 3 are committed players, and 3 are uncommitted or committed elsewhere. Let’s take a look at the visitors:

Canes commits

4-star CB Trajan Bandy. One of the most vocal recruits in Miami’s 2017 recruiting class, Bandy is a player who makes up for a lack of height with tenacity, physicality, and skill. Bandy plays with a chip on his shoulder, and brings the kind of attitude, and performance, that Miami is looking for on defense. Bandy figures to play heavy snaps as a freshman at nickel, and on special teams.

4-star DE DJ Johnson. An Under Armour All-American from Sacramento (CA) Luther Burbank HS, Johnson is a player with good size at 6’5” 240lbs, and good positional versatility. Johnson played DE and DT in the Under Armour All-American game, and could be in line to do similar things once he reaches Miami. Johnson has previously taken visits to Washington and USC, which had rumors of a potential flip swirling. A solid visit this weekend for Johnson, who will likely bring his parents with him, would go a long way toward settling things down and locking Johnson up in this class.

3-star WR Evidence Njoku. A tall and lithe player at 6’6” 200lbs, Njoku is the only WR committed to Miami in the 2017 class at current. Yes, you know that surname: Evidence is the younger brother of former Canes TE David. While he has great athleticism, Evidence is a pure WR, not a developmental TE as was his brother. Njoku has good long speed, and incredible leaping ability. He routinely leapt over defenders to make highlight reel catches in HS, and figures to do the same at the collegiate level. After seeing the success his brother was able to have at Miami, Evidence Njoku should be locked up in this class.

Targets

4-star JUCO CB Jhavonte Dean. This Alabama commit is an interesting prospect for Miami. Dean is originally from Homestead (he attended South Dade Senior HS), so he’s a SoFLA kid. A low-tier prospect out of HS, Dean has used his 2 years at JUCO to refine his skills and make himself into a high major prospect. The 6’2” 180lb Dean is the #1 JUCO CB and #8 JUCO recruit overall. With that kind of size and skill, Dean would surely see copious amounts of playing time from Day 1 in Coral Gables.

There is talk that on top of Alabama being tight on scholarship spot in this class, Dean is very intrigued by the opportunity to return to SoFLA for the last 2 years of his collegiate career. Nothing in recruiting is certain, but Dean-to-Miami could be coming soon with a strong visit this weekend.

3-star WR Mike Harley. This West Virginia commit is a local player from powerhouse Ft. Lauderdale (FL) St. Thomas Aquinas. The 5’9” 165lb Harley isn’t physically imposing, but he is both quick and fast, and a nightmare for opposing teams to deal with in space. The U.S. Army All-American was uncoverable throughout the practices and game, and is one of the most dynamic players in space in this class.

Harley’s recruitment has been up and down. After being committed to WVU for a long time, he finally got a Miami offer in November. Harley has gone back and forth about shutting his recruitment down, but elected to take this visit with his family to see if Miami is a viable option for him. Miami figures to have an uphill battle to flip Harley from WVU, but stranger things have happened.

3-star WR Jordan Pouncey. This former Notre Dame commit is one of the more recent targets for Miami in this class, and one with which the Canes have a great chance. The Winter Park (FL) native is a good offensive playmaker who spent time at RB and WR this year. Pouncey projects as a WR at the next level, and would bring good size (6’2” 185lbs) and speed to the position. After his decommitment from Notre Dame, Miami has become the team to beat in this recruitment.

Those are the official visitors this week. A reminder that recruiting is silly season, and secret/unannounced visits happen all the time (look at the Jerry Jeudy visit from before the dead period). And, scheduled visits can fall through, as has happened many times before. But, as of now, those are the 6 players who are on the list to visit Coral Gables this weekend.

As per usual, I’m setting the Over/Under on commits at 0.5. What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments below.

Go Canes