Miami Is Battling FSU and Florida For Top In-State Recruits

The battle for state bragging rights begins with recruiting

DJ Pickett / Brian Smith-AllHurricanes

Miami wants to sign the best recruits from Florida but Florida State and Florida do, too.

Looking at the current Rivals team recruiting rankings, Florida State is #13 with four commitments, Miami is #16 with five commitments, and Florida is #23 with five commitments. To help move up, each of these three schools will be going after some of the Sunshine State’s best prospects.

Here are five of Florida’s best prep football recruits that will help determine if it is the Hurricanes, Seminoles, or Gators end up with the best in-state recruiting class. 

Note: the numbers inside () denote the prospect’s current Rivals ranking in order of national, position, and state

DJ Pickett Cornerback Zephyrhills (Fla.) High School (9, 1-athlete, 1)

A recent trip to Miami went quite well for the Canes. Gaby Urrutia of Inside The U had the following quote from Pickett.

"First of all, it's an opportunity for me to get on the field early, and just the place like Miami–there's nowhere like Miami. Just the people around the building is good people and I want to be around it.”

Miami is the best bet of the three in-state programs to sign Pickett. LSU, Oregon, Georgia, Michigan, Florida, and Florida State are among the schools that would also love to sign him. Pickett plans to announce his choice on Oct. 6.

Solomon Thomas OG Jacksonville (Fla.) Raines (18, 1, 3)

Despite being a Noles commitment, Thomas recently went to UF and will do so again today and tomorrow, per 247’s Zach Bolstein. Miami and Florida State also know what it’s like to host Thomas since January as well. In fact, Thomas continually takes unofficial visits.

One of the out of state programs attempting to flip him is LSU. He also visited Baton Rouge earlier this year. Any one of FSU, UM, UF, or LSU could end up with Thomas in its respective recruiting class.

Jaime Ffrench Wide Receiver Jacksonville (Fla.) Mandarin (22, 4, 4)

The one-time Alabama commitment is arguably the most difficult prospect to project where he will go. His teammate and quarterback, Tramell Jones, Jr., is certainly attempting to bring him along to FSU where he’s committed.

Since the beginning of January, multiple trips to FSU and UM are in the books for Ffrench as well. Ohio State, Tennessee, and LSU are schools where Ffrench already made unofficial visits, too.

From this list, Ffrench is the most likely to make a last-second decision on National Signing Day. He’s an elite prospect so the battle will certainly be highly contested.

Dallas Wilson Wide Receiver Tampa (Fla.) Tech (27, 5, 6)

It’s hard to see Wilson spurning all the offers down South and sticking with his Oregon commitment. He did grow up liking the Ducks, however. Miami and Florida State each hosted Wilson for a visit this year, and he’s probably not done with unofficial visits before taking official visits.

For official visits, the Gators (June 14) are hosting Wilson as will the Ducks (June 21). It’s a good bet that at least one of the Canes and Noles will also gain an official visit.

Javion Hilson Defensive End Cocoa (Fla.) High School (45, 1, 9)

Like Ffrench, Hilson originally made a commitment to Bama. He is now an FSU commitment. UF is after Hilson, too, and he’s slated to visit Miami this weekend. Then, one has to consider Hilson's official visit schedule.

Hilson's official visit plans include Florida (May 31), Alabama (June 7), UCF (June 14), and Florida State (June 21). With him making the trip to Coral Gables this weekend, it's not out of the question that Hilson sets up an official visits with The U as well.

He’s a great young man to be around and that’s probably another reason college football programs want him on their respective rosters.

In the end, Miami has numerous top in-state prospects that it would like to land over the likes of FSU and UF. This is going to be a blast to watch the recruitments unfold.