Welcome back to another Official Visit weekend, Canes fans! Top prospects from around the country will again descend on Coral Gables, and locations all over the CFB landscape.

We’ve already seen some changes (additions) to the group for this week, so it should be interesting to see where/how Cristobal and company continue to build this class as they reshape the roster.

With no further ado, let’s look at the players coming to Coral Gables (and some going elsewhere) this weekend. REMINDER: recruiting is a fluid situation, so changes to the list can happen, and unofficial visitors — players paying their own way to Miami to visit campus and interact with coaches, players, and other recruits — can happen as well. The named players are expect to attend as official visitors.

Official Visitors

Tacoma (WA) Lincoln 5-star 4-star DE Jayden Wayne. A 5-star up until the most recent rankings reshuffling, the 6’5” 245lb Wayne is making his 3rd overall visit, and 2nd visit this spring/summer to Coral Gables. He’s an elite Edge rushers, and one of the most coveted players at his position nationally. Miami is in a fierce recruiting battle with the likes of Georgia, Oregon, LSU, and Alabama for this elite prospect. This is a major, major visit, and the headliner of the weekend, for sure.

Portland (OR) Central Catholic 4-star TE Riley Williams. The nation’s #2 ranked prospect at this position, Williams has it all; height, length, solid hands, run-after-catch ability, and a decent grasp on blocking, to boot! He’s the kind of star at TE who could easily balance taking a developmental prospect like 3-star Jackson Carver, who committed to Miami following his OV last weekend. Another major national prospect from the West Coast that Miami is looking to make a serious move on with this weekend’s visit.

Kissimmee (FL) Osceola 4-star DT John Walker. The move to beef up the lines on both sides of the ball continue with bringing in Walker for an OV. At 6’3” 310lbs, Walker has prototypical size to play inside. And he plays with another top prospect — 4-star EDGE Derrick Leblanc — so he’s used to playing with top end talent next to him on the DL as well. Miami is battling UCF?, Florida, Michigan, and Ohio State for Walker’s services.

Columbus (GA) Carver 4-star DT Darron Reed. Another interior defensive lineman, Reed comes down from Georgia to visit The U. At 6’5” 260lbs, Reed has the frame to add weight and strength moving forward, which he’ll need to play inside at the college level. LSU, Auburn, and Ohio State have or will get OVs from Reed this month.

Milton (FL) 3-star QB Emory Williams. We all know Recruiting Rule #1, right? Say it with me kids: Get a QB Every Year. Good. Very good. Now, in the 2023 class, there have been several QB’s the Canes have targeted, but it seems Williams has become the player Mario Cristobal and company are zeroing in on as their guy in this class. The 6’5” 190lb trigger man has good skills and projectable talent. He worked out/threw for the coaching staff last weekend, after which he received “a fully committable offer” per his words in an interview. While there are other, higher rated players still on the board — for example, 5-star Jaden Rashada just pushed back his decision date to consider more options, including Miami — Williams seems ready to commit, and Miami seems more than ready to accept that commitment, should he choose to offer one.

Milton (FL) 4-star WR Raymond Cottrell. Per a late report on Thursday night by Gaby Urrutia of 247sports ($), the Georgia commit will join his HS QB Williams and take a trip down to the Gables this weekend. A top 100 (okay, 101 but come on) player in the country, Cottrell has been a known name on the HSFB circuit for years. He initially committed to Florida last July, but flipped to Georgia in November. Cottrell has visited both UGA and Texas A&M in recent weeks, so things could move here. Another visit to pay attention to.

Princeton (NJ) The Hun School 3-star OT Logan Howland. A 6’7”, 280lb tackle, Howland has the size every team is looking for at this key position. Teams like Iowa, Ohio State, Vanderbilt, and Michigan are on the list for visits for Howland. His visit is starting on Thursday, so he’ll be outta here on Saturday.

Lackawanna (PA) JC WR Colbie Young. A big bodied, 6’4” 220lb receiver, Young will visit Miami this weekend. He could address my personal view that this roster (and recruiting class) lacks size at the receiver position. Pittsburgh and Tennessee have also offered and tried to get Young on campus (he visited Pitt on June 6th), but Florida State and others are lurking around the perimeter of this recruitment. Look for Miami to make a big push this weekend.

What’s Up With Rashada?

So, as mentioned above, 5-star QB Jaden Rashada (Pittsburgh, CA) has pushed back his commitment date slightly. The elite passing prospect announced this on social media on Thursday.

It is no secret that Miami had previously targeted Rashada, and the trigger man came to campus in Coral Gables for an unofficial visit earlier this year. Playing his 7v7 ball for Miami Immortals, Rashada was in town for a tournament and swung by campus at the end of March.

The important thing to note here is that Rashada has not taken an official visit to Miami, and with only 4 visits taken, he could still slide by campus before his new decision date if he wanted. While the Recruiting Rule is that every team needs one QB in a recruiting class, if Rashada wants to commit, I could easily see Miami flipping that up and taking two with both he and Emory Williams joining the class.

As of now, Rashada has no plans to visit Miami, though he has visited the other 4 teams in his listed final 5 (above in the tweet). So, I think to have a real chance here, Rashada and his team (family, coaches, whoever) will have to take an OV to the Gables. But 9 days is an eternity in recruiting, so there’s plenty of time for things to shake out. Stay tuned, tho. This isn’t over (for anyone)....yet.

Official Visitors.....part deux!

I’m gonna include this here: there are other visitors scheduled to come to Coral Gables in the near future....but before next weekend. Probably? Maybe? Something like that. Anyways, here’s the list of those guys, the visitors between this weekend and next.

Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy 5-star OT Francis Mauigoa. A top 10 player in this class, the 6’5” 330lb Mauigoa is elite as elite gets at offensive tackle. Everybody who’s everybody is trying to get him to pick their school, with Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, and USC battling Miami for this elite prospect.

Orlando (FL) Dr. Phillips 4-star OT Payton Kirkland. A massive lineman at 6’6” 345lbs, Kirkland is being heavily pursued by a number of top CFB programs. He’s visited Miami a couple times, but he’s coming back for an OV, and that’s a good thing. Even still, there’s work to be done here. Florida, Michigan State, and Oklahoma are all also trying to get Kirkland to pick their school.

Melbourne (FL) Eau Gallie 4-star ATH Robert Stafford. A multi-talented, three-sport (basketball and track as well) athlete, Stafford will make his way to Coral Gables mid-week as well. Stafford could end up at receiver or defensive back in college, depending on how the team recruiting him values his variegated skillset. Arkansas, Kentucky, and Oregon are all chasing Stafford along with Miami.

Away Games

While Miami is hosting prospects here, other teams are getting players on their campuses as well. Here’s a quick list of some visits elsewhere to note.

5-star DL David Hicks - Oregon. Hicks visited Miami last weekend, and Michigan State before that. With good reason, the 5-star talent has many teams chasing him.

5-star OL Francis Mauigoa - USC. Yes, the same kid I have listed as coming to Miami after this weekend is going to USC this ACTUAL weekend. Isn’t recruiting fun?

5-star WR Jalen Brown - LSU.

4-star WR Hykeem Williams - Georgia.

4-star S Joenel Aguero - Ohio State. Ew. I hate that I even typed the name of that school.

4-star S Jayden Bonsu - Ohio State. Double ew.

4-star WR Nathaniel “Ray Ray” Joseph - Louisville.

4-star EDGE Bai Jobe - Michigan State.

4-star OL Madden Sanker - Louisville.

4-star OL Monroe Freeling - Florida. Another ew for me.

4-star EDGE/ATH Jaxon Howard - Michigan.

4-star OL Olaus Alinen - Georgia. The Finnish native continues his tour of the top of the CFB world.

4-star EDGE Derrick Leblanc - Penn State

4-star EDGE Ta’Mere Robinson - Penn State

3-star OL Jonathan Cline - East Carolina.

3-star OL Connor Lew - Auburn.

3-star OL Tommy Kinsler - Florida.

And with that, the table is set for the second major Official Visit weekend of the year. And with it, we bring back the OV weekend poll, and we’ll be watching the movement unfold for Miami and others in the weeks and months to come.

Go Canes