Miami Hurricanes ‘Super Seven’ Prospects to Watch
With National Signing Day coming up on Dec. 21, the Miami Hurricanes are building on a top 10 class that could end up in the top three. It all depends on how Miami finishes off the recruiting class.
Look for some surprises this week with in-home visits and possibly even unofficial visits to The U that changes up the list overall. There’s still plenty of chances for things to shake up down the stretch. Until then, the following seven Miami prospects hold offers from many schools. Miami even landing two or three of these young men would bolster an already impressive 23-person recruiting class.
Listed in alphabetical order.
Rueben Bain, EDGE, Miami (Fla.) Central
Bain is from a program that the Canes must consistently recruit well, and he’s probably as high a priority recruit as Miami could have. There’s a reason Cristobal wants him in Coral Gables, as well as Nick Saban wanting him in Tuscaloosa, Mike Norvell hoping he comes to Tallahassee, and Hugh Freeze would love to see him on The Plains.
Out of everyone on this list, Bain’s recruitment holds as much importance as any. Critical position of defensive end, from a local powerhouse high school, and going up against top quality recruiting competition. Like Brown, he’s also coming off a visit to FSU.
Bain’s recruitment is truly intriguing. While many schools could sign him, look for Bain to end up at Miami, FSU, and do not completely discount Bama. That program deserves the recruiting respect its earned. Bain is going to announce his final decision on Friday.
Damari Brown, CB, Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) American Heritage
First off, Miami has gone after Brown hard. So have many other programs as well, however, including schools like Alabama and Clemson. Those are two prominent out-of-state options that Mario Cristobal and the Canes need to start consistently beating for The U to return to former glory, among others.
He’s also coming off a trip to Florida State, so do not count out the Seminoles. They are now being aggressive with recruiting in South Florida, so the Noles will likely bump into Miami several times in 2023 and moving into future recruiting classes.
Let’s see if Brown returns to campus and/or goes through with any other consistent UM contact during the final days of the recruiting period. Otherwise, at this point, it just depends on which rumor a person believes about which school Brown will eventually sign his letter of intent with.
Stanquan Clark, LB, Miami (Fla.) Central
A now long-time Louisville commitment, will Clark stick with the Cardinals after head coach Scott Satterfield accepted a job with Cincinnati? That’s the biggest question with Clark.
The new man for the Cardinals would be Jeff Brohm, a former Louisville player himself as a quarterback, and is coming off being the head coach at Purdue. He’s an offensive-minded coach, so there’s no direct reason to believe Clark is all that enamored with playing for him, but then again, perhaps he already hit it off with Brohm during conversations?
Miami is the mainstay. The Canes are a constant reminder of what’s just down the road and It’s home. Miami has won many recruiting battles just like this one with Clark, in the past. Hard to vote against the local school when they hold longer relationships with the player in question.
The holding point, the Canes have five committed linebackers. Too many to take another?
Mark Fletcher, RB, Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) American Heritage
Fletcher’s situation is far more narrowed, at least if that’s what one believes. He’s allegedly down to Miami and Florida. An old school Canes versus Gators battle. Both teams like to run the football between the tackles and this big running back fits the profile well.
The Gators just hosted Fletcher for an official visit, so he has UF fresh on his mind. He has also been to UM many times though, and the Canes are still recruiting Fletcher. Need to see how the in-home visits go this week before really knowing much more.
Conrad Hussey, S, Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas
The recruit many people fail to discuss with Miami. Hussey has natural speed and the ability to play multiple college positions. He’s already a Penn State commitment but Miami and other programs are not out of the question for Hussey.
This might be the most difficult of all the recruitments to read. He’s another recruit that just went to FSU for an official visit, so the Noles are in play. It would be interesting to see what would happen if he made the trek to Coral Gables before National Signing Day, too.
Brandon Inniss, WR, Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) American Heritage
This is simply a player that Miami cannot give up on. Inniss is a tremendous player and one that is in the Canes own backyard. Despite that point, he originally made a pledge to Oklahoma and now to Ohio State. While the Canes cannot give up hope, Inniss is the biggest longshot from this list.
Samson Okunlola, OT, Boston (Mass.) Thayer Academy
Another UM versus UF battle for arguably the best offensive tackle in the class, and this time for an elite left tackle prospect from the Northeast? It’s recruiting. One just never knows, as Okunlola’s recruitment proves.
What is known would be adding him with Miami’s already elite offensive line class would expedite the process of returning the Canes to becoming a top program. Imagine Okunlola on one side and Francis Mauigoa on the other, both playing offensive tackle. Miami would be in excellent shape.
He made an official visit to Gainesville this past weekend, and made his official visit to Miami back on June 24.
From here, there are a couple of ways to evaluate this situation. One, he’s been quite pro-Miami throughout the summer and for much of the fall as well, so he’s Miami’s to lose. Two, he’s now leaving an official visit with the Gators and that could tip the scales towards him playing in the Swamp.
Much like with any one of the other recruits on this list, how comfortable Okunlola feels with the in-home visits this week should determine the outcome. This one is too close to call just yet. Okunlola will announce his college choice on Thursday.
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