Canes Hoops: Recruiting Update

2 months ago we took a look at the state of Canes Hoops recruiting (you can read that here). As we enter the latter stages of the summer, not much has changed, but the Canes remain in the hunt for one of the top recruits in the country and have emerged as the favorite to land another prospect. Let’s dive in.

The summer is a crucial season for recruiting, as many top recruits have an opportunity to showcase themselves against the top talent in the nation, whether its through international tournaments, invitational events or AAU. Not only do the players get to match up with other high level recruits on the court, but college coaches have an opportunity to win some points with their targets by showing up to the aforementioned competitions. Now is when the leg work is done in the recruiting process. It’s been an uphill battle, but Coach Larranaga and his staff are putting the work in. Whether it’s enough is the real question at hand.

The Canes have extended 19 offers so far, and of those recruits, only 2 have a ‘warm’ interest level according to 247sports.com. Luckily, one of those 2 recruits is #2 overall recruit Vernon Carey Jr, who is the ultimate prize of this class. The Canes-legacy has even narrowed down his top 5, of which Miami is included:

The other 4 schools in contention are all heavy hitters, all are storied programs with iconic coaches. Duke is currently believed to be the leader in Carey’s recruitment, but despite the competition Miami is currently slated as 2nd, with Duke having a 54% chance and Miami a 23% chance to land his signature. There are multiple reasons the Miami coaching staff need to do everything in their power to make this happen:

1. obviously his talent level:

2. Carey is a local recruit (He plays at University School in Ft. Lauderdale)

3. He already has a connection to the school and the athletic program (Vernon Carey Sr. was an offensive lineman for the Canes from 2000-2003).

There may never be another opportunity to land a recruit of this magnitude. Time to get it done.

The other recruit that has expressed ‘warm’ interest is four-star combo guard Isaiah Wong out of Trenton, NJ. This is good news as when we looked into the recruiting situation back in May, Wong was listed as someone with only ‘cool’ interest in Miami, and now has a 100% prediction to sign with the Canes by 247’s crystal ball. Wong is a very talented prospect with plenty to prove:

In the link above, Wong has some encouraging notes about the Canes. He mentions that Miami coaches have been to all of his tournaments this summer and have had great conversations with him about his game. Wong would be a great get for this coaching staff. He has decent size at 6’2” 165 lbs, although a college weight program will do him a lot of good. The top-100 prospect has also stated that he will make his decision this winter, so Coach L and his staff will have to continue their efforts to secure his signature.

The Canes should be looking to land 2 (or more) recruits in the 2019 class, so to only have 2 prospects showing real interest is a little disheartening. The coaching staff now appears to be playing from behind for all their other targets. Options need to be cultivated to avoid another recruiting cycle with nothing. While Coach L has had great success in the transfer market, the staff needs to make a bigger splash among their Florida prospects, and the task will not become any easier as time progresses.

What do you think of the Canes’ chances of ending their recruiting drought? Do you think the coaching staff can drum up some interest this late in the game? Let us know in the comments.