Hello again, ‘Crootin fans! We’re back, and it’s time to talk about Miami’s premier recruiting event:

Paradise Camp 2018

Implemented by Mark Richt in 2016, Paradise Camp is one of the highest profile recruiting events in the country. It ranks up there with Georgia’s Dawg Night (started by Richt when he was the Bulldogs’ coach), Florida’s Friday Night Lights, Florida State’s (renamed) Saturday Night Live, Alabama’s A Day, and others.

In the first 2 years, Miami has brought back Hurricanes Legends to coach at the camp. Players such as Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, Jeremy Shockey, DJ Williams, Jon Beason, Jon Vilma, and more have been back to work with the HS players who attend Paradise and (by their mere presence) advance Miami’s recruiting efforts. The only confirmed coach so far this year is Jon Beason, but I’m sure there will be plenty more to come.

LATE EDIT: Miami Hurricanes Head Coach Mark Richt just released the list of Canes greats who will be coaching at Paradise 2018. And woooo buddy. It’s a good one. Here, see for yourself:

Now, the main key component to any recruiting event is the collection of recruits who will be in attendance and participating. We’ll get there in a minute, I promise, but here’s a general overview of the events of the weekend:

Friday - Pool Party and Cookout. This is an off the field event, but building relationships — a key in recruiting — will be the focus here.

Saturday - Main event. Invite only. This is where this year’s group of UM legends will be seen and make their mark. There will be elite competition (several 5-star recruits have said in the past that the talent at Paradise Camp was better than at Nike’s The Opening or other elite recruiting events). Basically, if you’re looking for a recruiting event to attend, this is it.

With construction on the Carol Soffer Football Practice Facility ongoing, but nearly completed, on the Greentree Practice fields, Paradise Camp will take place on the Intramural Fields in front of Stanford Residential College (where I lived when I went to The U) on UM’s Coral Gables campus.

Now that I’ve said all that to lay the landscape of this weekend’s events, let’s get to talking about the players who will be in attendance. There will probably be a couple late surprises who show up.

*list of attendees per 24/7, Rivals, and CanesInSight reports

Of the 2018 Paradise Camp attendee list, there are 16 players currently committed to Miami. There is no vocal leader a la DeeJay Dallas in 2016 or Lorenzo Lingard in 2017, but there’s a ton of commits — Miami’s entire 2019 class at present is scheduled to attend — and expect them to be recruiting the uncommitted or otherwise committed guys very, very hard throughout this weekend.

Oh, and one quick note: 4-star CB Tyrique Stevenson is likely to go elsewhere for camp this weekend, but Miami was able to get him on campus for a visit on Thursday per reports. Just wanted to put that out there.

To my mind, the top targets of the non-Canes commits on the above list are:

• WR Jadon Haselwood - ranked the #3 prospect in this class on the 247sports composite, Haselwood is the definition of an elite player. Getting the Georgia commit on campus is a win for Miami, and the Canes will reportedly try to make a big push here. Understandable, to say the least.
• ATH Mark-Antony Richards - Younger brother of Miami star WR Ahmmon Richards, Mark-Antony has the size, and skill, to be an impact player on offense or defense.
• RB Kenny McIntosh - Younger brother of former Canes DT RJ McIntosh, Kenny is a big back with plenty of wiggle to go along with a diverse skillset. Odds on favorite to be the 2nd RB in this class.
• TE Keon Zipperer - Miami wants 2 TEs in this class and Zipperer is the guy they want to add with Larry Hodges to make that happen. Expect a big push from the Canes this weekend.
• DT Braylen Ingraham - Miami needs DTs. Ingraham is the best DT prospect in SoFLA this cycle and has the frame, and potential, to be very, very good at the college level.
• DT Jalar Holley - Plays a position of need, and attends the HS where new DL coach Jess Simpson was the legendary coach for the majority of his 20 years at the prep level.
• S Cornelius Nunn - After missing on a couple Safety targets earlier this cycle (thanks to some questionable recruiting decisions), Miami will reportedly look to flip the Syracuse commit.

And while that list is impressive, there will be additional depth and talent in the form of underclassmen who will be attending Paradise Camp as well. Here’s that list: (note: all 2021 players are unranked as of now but will get rankings this upcoming season.)

There is a TON of talent in that underclassmen list, as per usual. Marcus Rosemy is an ELITE WR and everybody in America will be chasing him. Bryan Robinson will also be a 25+ offer national level recruit. The Oakleaf duo of Jalen Rivers and Chantz Williams are both elite, and have the size to be high level national recruits as well. The group of RBs is deep with Jo’Quavious Marks and Demarkcus Bowman leading the way. Miles Brooks looks to be one of the next elite DBs from DB factor Trinity Christian Academy. Miami would like to get Brooks’ teammate — 5-star CB Fred Davis — on campus as well but that’s yet to be arranged. James Williams is a manchild and it’s ridiculous that he’s already 6’3” 200lbs — if not bigger — and he’s yet to start his SOPHOMORE year of HS. And, plenty of the low rated or unrated South Florida kids in attendance could be able to elevate their status in the years to come.

On top of that, several underclassmen, players like DE Donell Harris and ATH Caziah Holmes (a Paradise 2017 attendee), and TE Christopher Johnson, could commit this weekend. So, be on the lookout for that (or others) as time goes on.

The lists of talent, both senior and underclassmen, are loaded with talent. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I can nearly guarantee that there are other players who are going to come to Paradise Camp who are keeping things quiet until they pop up in Coral Gables this weekend. Even if surprise visitors don’t end up coming, this is still one of the best collections of talent at a recruiting event anywhere in America.

According to InsideTheU, 72% of Miami’s 2017 and 2018 signees attended Paradise Camp, so there has already been tangible results seen from this event.

Paradise Camp is a premium recruiting event, hosted at a premium location, coached by a premium coaching staff, and assisted by legends in the game of football. It, literally, doesn’t get any better than this.

We’ll have plenty of reaction, opinion, and commentary in the days following Paradise. I’ll be on hand for the event for the first time (no professional conflict this year. WOOOOO!!!) so I’ll be sure to relay my experience down in the Gables on Saturday afternoon/evening.

For now, hop in the comments to talk with other Canes fans, and vote in the poll.

Go Canes