Miami Hurricanes News and Notes — Miami looks to lock down a priority offensive lineman

It looks like Butch Barry may reel in his first major commit as the offensive line coach of the University of Miami in OL Jalen Rivers. Rivers attends Oakleaf High School, which is the same school that Miami LB Shaq Quarterman went to.

The commitment of the 6-6 331 pound offensive lineman would be a stout addition to an already impressive 2020 class, which ranks fourth nationally. Andrew Ivins, the Hurricanes insider for 247Sports, logged a Crystal Ball prediction in favor of the Hurricanes for Rivers and he isn't the only one.

At the moment, the Canes hold 67% of the Crystal Ball predictions for the 135th ranked player in the 247Sports Composite rankings.

And he has found success away from the football field as well. Rivers won a state championship in the Shot-Put earlier this month with a 54 foot, 4 inch throw. It’s an impressive display of strength for a guy who hasn't finished his junior year of high school.

While the Hurricanes are gathering some positive momentum in the recruiting front, a local star wide receiver made an expected, but unfortunate decision — to commit to the University of Alabama.

Thaiu Jones-Bell out of Carol City is the most recent South Florida native to join the Crimson Tide, adding to a long list of extremely successful wide receivers to make the same decision.

Jones-Bell, who had 17 touchdowns on 38 receptions, is an elite talent that was dead set on Alabama and there was nothing anybody was going to do to stop it. Him committing was a mere formality as he's been favored to go there for quite some time.

If you want to see what the Hurricanes missed out on, here are his junior highlights.

*Spoiler alert — he’s really, really fast and scores a lot of touchdowns.

It’s a shame to see talent like that go, but I’m glad he was up front about his intentions and didn't take secret visits to Miami without Nick Saban knowing and tease the whole fanbase (cough cough Jerry Jeudy).

But the Hurricanes are still in it for a lot of seriously legitimate prospects and at the end of the day, Manny Diaz is going to have to win if he wants to stop the Georgia’s, Alabama’s, and Clemson’s of the world from coming down to their recruiting ground and snatching their best players.

That’s all from me today. Go Canes!