In an effort to bolster both the Defensive End and Tight End positions, the Miami Hurricanes were chasing after 4-star TE Keon Zipperer and 4-star DE Lloyd Summerall. The pair, teammates at Florida 7A State Champion Lakeland, are among the highest rated players at their respective positions, and were targets for Miami before Summerall transferred to be Zipperer’s teammate prior to this season.

However, despite Miami’s best efforts in recruiting the talented teammates, both Zipperer and Summerall elected to sign with the Florida Gators, as they announced on ESPN just moments ago.

This is a big, double recruiting loss for Miami, but it is not unexpected. The chatter had been favorable for UF for the pair for a long time, and that only intensified recently. Florida’s lead for the pair was so strong that not even getting Zipperer and Summerall on campus in Coral Gables for the final visit weekend before today’s announcement was enough for Miami to sway things. And, before you think that visit was anything other than spectacular, Summerall was quoted as rating it an “11 out of 10”, so yeah, it was good. But not enough to get either player to The U.

This is yet another loss on the trail for Miami. The Canes need another TE on the roster, and Zipperer is one of the best in the country. Miami needs more talented DEs to restock the depth and talent at that position, and Summerall is tall with long arms and great skill. But all those traits will be going with him to Gainesville instead of Coral Gables.

With Zipperer and Summerall off the board, Miami will have to regroup and reassess things at both TE and DE moving toward traditional signing day in February. But, even in doing so, the Canes are unlikely to find any prospect at either position who measures up to Zipperer or Summerall.

As always, we respect prospect decisions and wish Keon and Lloyd the best moving forward.

For Miami, it’s back to the drawing board yet again.

Go Canes