2019 STA 3-star LB Jahmar Brown was out competing at Nike’s the Opening Miami Regional a few weeks back and he took some to time to discuss what that was like and talk some recruiting as well.
“It was fun, to say the least,” Brown said about the Opening. “I had a lot of fun out there competing, especially against those IMG kids, they’re really good. They’re some dudes.”
The linebackers mainly competed against the RB’s, participating in the cat-and-mouse drill, red zone coverage drill, and pass protection drills. So, which backs stood out in Brown’s mind?
“I don’t know his name, but the kid from Deerfield (Jaylan Knighton), he’s nice. (Trey) Sanders impressed me and there was another guy I don’t know, but he had on Gulliver shorts (Anton Hall).”
After spending his freshman and sophomore seasons at Pace, blew up his junior year at St. Thomas, nabbing 40+ offers. Now, he’s looked to as a senior leader on a loaded St. Thomas roster that is built to compete for the national title.
“It makes me have to step my game up, to say the least,” Brown said about being a senior now. “Last year we came up short, we didn’t finish the way we needed to. So, now it’s my job, it’s (Anthony) Solomon’s job, Jaden’s (Davis) job, (Jordan) Battle’s job to bring the young ones up from JV and really teach them. Teach them the game, teach them what we had to learn, make them go through what we had to go through, the learning process, so we can go back to the dominant St. Thomas Aquinas, the National Champion St. Thomas Aquinas. That’s our goal this year, to really rebuild, revamp, and be National Champions.”
The Raiders suffered a tough loss in last year’s state semifinals matchup against eventual champ Venice HS, and it’s the pain of that loss that fuels Brown during the off-season.
“It hurt everybody’s soul. It hurt my soul, it hurt the whole defense’s soul, the offense’s soul, coach Harriott’s soul, coach Smith’s soul, even the principal,” Brown said. “Everybody was hurt because we didn’t finish how we were supposed to finish. But, I promise you, this year we will finish how we are supposed to finish, we will win states this year.”
When asked what his team and player goals were for his upcoming senior season, Brown made sure to focus on his team.
“My team goals are a national championship, state championship, undefeated,” Brown said. “My player goals are irrelevant. As long as we achieve all the team goals, my own goals really don’t matter.”
Brown’s made plenty of trips to the UM campus in the past but took the time to make another a few weeks back. He described what he loves so much about going to UM’s campus.
“First of all, every time I go there, there’s always good weather,” Brown said. “I get caught by the breeze and you know UM’s campus has all the palm trees and the big lake sitting right in the middle of it. It’s a beautiful campus, so I always get infatuated, I get sucked in when I go there. But other than that, it’s really the coaches, the coaches make the atmosphere feel great.”
Brown took the recent Miami visit with some of his talented defensive teammates at STA and all are plenty interested in what the Canes have to offer. They were: Anthony Solomon, Jaden Davis, Jordan Battle, Derek Wingo, and Avery Huff. Specifically, Brown and Solomon have talked about playing together at the next level.
“I could see both of us at UM,” Brown said. “But that comes with a lot more communication, a lot more thinking involved in a decision than someone may think. But UM is not far out of the picture. I could see us at UM.”
It seems the Canes are coming after Brown pretty diligently, and that persistence has paid off so far for Miami: Brown says the Canes would be in his top 3 as of now.
“If there are any schools recruiting me as hard as UM, it’d be South Carolina and Stanford. They’re all recruiting me really hard. Those are my top couple schools. I don’t have an order, but Miami is high on that list. Higher than most people would think.”
Before Brown makes a final decision, he wants to hit a few different campuses and experience the electric atmosphere of a college gameday. It seems whichever program can offer the best environment in the stadium will have a leg up on landing the linebacker. Brown does plan on signing in the early signing period, though.
“Sometime in the summer, I would hope. It could be sometime during the season. I want to really see the atmosphere of the school and go to a game. I’ve been to a UM game. I’m gonna take my officials during the season and I’m definitely signing early.”
I got Brown to look into his crystal ball and make some predictions for us: if signing day was today, where does he see his defensive teammates ending up?
Jaden Davis: “Oklahoma or Florida.”
Anthony Solomon: “Florida State or Michigan.”
Jordan Battle: “Nobody knows! I couldn’t even give you a real guess on that one… maybe I could see him at Florida or Georgia.”
Avery Huff: “I don’t know him well enough yet, but he seems like a Georgia linebacker. Or Florida State.”
Derek Wingo (still waiting on Miami offer): “I’d go Oklahoma.”
Brown’s last point, though?
“If we all went to Miami, I wouldn’t mind.”
“It was fun, to say the least,” Brown said about the Opening. “I had a lot of fun out there competing, especially against those IMG kids, they’re really good. They’re some dudes.”
The linebackers mainly competed against the RB’s, participating in the cat-and-mouse drill, red zone coverage drill, and pass protection drills. So, which backs stood out in Brown’s mind?
“I don’t know his name, but the kid from Deerfield (Jaylan Knighton), he’s nice. (Trey) Sanders impressed me and there was another guy I don’t know, but he had on Gulliver shorts (Anton Hall).”
After spending his freshman and sophomore seasons at Pace, blew up his junior year at St. Thomas, nabbing 40+ offers. Now, he’s looked to as a senior leader on a loaded St. Thomas roster that is built to compete for the national title.
“It makes me have to step my game up, to say the least,” Brown said about being a senior now. “Last year we came up short, we didn’t finish the way we needed to. So, now it’s my job, it’s (Anthony) Solomon’s job, Jaden’s (Davis) job, (Jordan) Battle’s job to bring the young ones up from JV and really teach them. Teach them the game, teach them what we had to learn, make them go through what we had to go through, the learning process, so we can go back to the dominant St. Thomas Aquinas, the National Champion St. Thomas Aquinas. That’s our goal this year, to really rebuild, revamp, and be National Champions.”
The Raiders suffered a tough loss in last year’s state semifinals matchup against eventual champ Venice HS, and it’s the pain of that loss that fuels Brown during the off-season.
“It hurt everybody’s soul. It hurt my soul, it hurt the whole defense’s soul, the offense’s soul, coach Harriott’s soul, coach Smith’s soul, even the principal,” Brown said. “Everybody was hurt because we didn’t finish how we were supposed to finish. But, I promise you, this year we will finish how we are supposed to finish, we will win states this year.”
When asked what his team and player goals were for his upcoming senior season, Brown made sure to focus on his team.
“My team goals are a national championship, state championship, undefeated,” Brown said. “My player goals are irrelevant. As long as we achieve all the team goals, my own goals really don’t matter.”
Brown’s made plenty of trips to the UM campus in the past but took the time to make another a few weeks back. He described what he loves so much about going to UM’s campus.
“First of all, every time I go there, there’s always good weather,” Brown said. “I get caught by the breeze and you know UM’s campus has all the palm trees and the big lake sitting right in the middle of it. It’s a beautiful campus, so I always get infatuated, I get sucked in when I go there. But other than that, it’s really the coaches, the coaches make the atmosphere feel great.”
Brown took the recent Miami visit with some of his talented defensive teammates at STA and all are plenty interested in what the Canes have to offer. They were: Anthony Solomon, Jaden Davis, Jordan Battle, Derek Wingo, and Avery Huff. Specifically, Brown and Solomon have talked about playing together at the next level.
“I could see both of us at UM,” Brown said. “But that comes with a lot more communication, a lot more thinking involved in a decision than someone may think. But UM is not far out of the picture. I could see us at UM.”
It seems the Canes are coming after Brown pretty diligently, and that persistence has paid off so far for Miami: Brown says the Canes would be in his top 3 as of now.
“If there are any schools recruiting me as hard as UM, it’d be South Carolina and Stanford. They’re all recruiting me really hard. Those are my top couple schools. I don’t have an order, but Miami is high on that list. Higher than most people would think.”
Before Brown makes a final decision, he wants to hit a few different campuses and experience the electric atmosphere of a college gameday. It seems whichever program can offer the best environment in the stadium will have a leg up on landing the linebacker. Brown does plan on signing in the early signing period, though.
“Sometime in the summer, I would hope. It could be sometime during the season. I want to really see the atmosphere of the school and go to a game. I’ve been to a UM game. I’m gonna take my officials during the season and I’m definitely signing early.”
I got Brown to look into his crystal ball and make some predictions for us: if signing day was today, where does he see his defensive teammates ending up?
Jaden Davis: “Oklahoma or Florida.”
Anthony Solomon: “Florida State or Michigan.”
Jordan Battle: “Nobody knows! I couldn’t even give you a real guess on that one… maybe I could see him at Florida or Georgia.”
Avery Huff: “I don’t know him well enough yet, but he seems like a Georgia linebacker. Or Florida State.”
Derek Wingo (still waiting on Miami offer): “I’d go Oklahoma.”
Brown’s last point, though?
“If we all went to Miami, I wouldn’t mind.”
