The Miami Hurricanes hosted their first official visitor of the 2020 cycle last weekend and it just so happened to be at a huge position of need.
Mutual interest between Camden (NJ) 3-star LB Tirek Austin-Cave and the Canes has been heating up to the point where UM felt ready to bring the talented linebacker down to Coral Gables to show him what Miami was all about.
“I had such a great time down there,” Austin-Cave said of Miami. “I’m so glad I got to see the campus, talk with the coaches, and just experience Miami.”
On his first official visit of the process, Austin-Cave built up his relationship with the UM coaches even better than it already was and cleared up all his questions he had about the Miami program.
“When I first got down to campus, I was touring around the facilities with the coaching staff,” Austin-Cave said. “They were busy telling me about the history of the school. Then, I was talking up some football with the coaches, I was asking them questions on how they see me in their defense in the near future, and they were asking me some questions about defense in general and I was answering them.
“Other than that, I just had a great time when I was down there. We went to so many places - Prime 112, that was amazing.”
The trip was a family affair for Austin-Cave, who brought along both his parents on the visit, and it seems like the family left Coral Gables sold on the Canes.
“My parents actually liked it a lot,” Austin-Cave said. “My dad actually went to school in Florida, he went to Bethune-Cookman, so that connection is there. My dad likes the school a lot, he sees me fitting into the school itself.
“One of the things my mother was saying was to go somewhere where you feel comfortable in the classroom. Coming in, I want to study Sociology and I just want to make sure I have a great opportunity to succeed in the classroom. That’s a big thing for my parents because the football part is going to take care of itself. I want to make sure I go somewhere with a great education.”
It’s clear the Hurricanes hammered home the academic benefits of being a private school, and that resonated with Austin-Cave and his family.
“It’s a small school, so it’ll be easier to acclimate and do very well in the classroom there,” Austin-Cave said. “So that was one of the big things for me - I want to go somewhere where I feel comfortable, go somewhere where I have a great connection with the professors and the teachers, and overall succeed in the classroom.
“So, with the University of Miami, if I’m going there, there’s a lot of hard work to be put in because the school itself holds a lot of weight. Overall, it’s one of the best schools of all-time academically, can’t get much better than that.”
What was something new he learned about the program that he didn’t know before?
“The population of the school kind of blew me away,” Austin-Cave said. “From the outside looking in, you’d think a lot of kids go there, but there’s only 11,000 kids that go there. That really kind of shocked me in a sense. I want to be able to go to a school like that where, aside from football, I can really focus in. It’s great, there’s not too many schools where I’d have the opportunity to go to a private school like that. So that aspect blew me away, it really did.”
The 6-1 205 pound prospect was hosted by Gilbert Frierson, and spent a lot of time talking to defensive coordinator Blake Baker about his fit in UM’s defense.
“Coach Baker, I like him a lot. I get great vibes off coach Baker,” Austin-Cave said. “I like the way he was talking about using me in the future.”
All things considered, Austin-Cave felt that UM moved up in his mind based on the visit and he sees big things in the future for Manny Diaz’s Hurricanes.
“The school is on the come up right now, looking to do big things in the ACC. The potential they have coming in there, I just want to be a part of it,” Austin-Cave said. “Growing up, that’s one of the schools you dream about going to. All the great linebackers - Ray Lewis came out of that school. Miami is probably one of the greatest colleges in college football history, ‘The U’. Like who wouldn’t want to go to ‘The U’?"
Now, factoring in how well his Miami official visit went, Austin-Cave has decided to move up his decision timetable. Instead of taking all five official visits like originally planned, he will officially visit West Virginia on June 14th, then Minnesota on June 18th. After that, he will sit down with his family and come to a final decision shortly afterwards, before the summer ends.
“I was thinking about waiting until after I take all five of my officials, but I’m probably going to cut down a commitment date in a little bit, sooner than expected,” Austin-Cave said. “I’ll probably set a date after I take these next two officials, and after that, I’ll probably wrap this thing up.
“The process has been a lot. I’ll talk with my mom and my dad, and others close to me, and I’ll wrap this thing up in either July or August. I’ll just take these last two officials and be done very soon.”
Mutual interest between Camden (NJ) 3-star LB Tirek Austin-Cave and the Canes has been heating up to the point where UM felt ready to bring the talented linebacker down to Coral Gables to show him what Miami was all about.
“I had such a great time down there,” Austin-Cave said of Miami. “I’m so glad I got to see the campus, talk with the coaches, and just experience Miami.”
On his first official visit of the process, Austin-Cave built up his relationship with the UM coaches even better than it already was and cleared up all his questions he had about the Miami program.
“When I first got down to campus, I was touring around the facilities with the coaching staff,” Austin-Cave said. “They were busy telling me about the history of the school. Then, I was talking up some football with the coaches, I was asking them questions on how they see me in their defense in the near future, and they were asking me some questions about defense in general and I was answering them.
“Other than that, I just had a great time when I was down there. We went to so many places - Prime 112, that was amazing.”
The trip was a family affair for Austin-Cave, who brought along both his parents on the visit, and it seems like the family left Coral Gables sold on the Canes.
“My parents actually liked it a lot,” Austin-Cave said. “My dad actually went to school in Florida, he went to Bethune-Cookman, so that connection is there. My dad likes the school a lot, he sees me fitting into the school itself.
“One of the things my mother was saying was to go somewhere where you feel comfortable in the classroom. Coming in, I want to study Sociology and I just want to make sure I have a great opportunity to succeed in the classroom. That’s a big thing for my parents because the football part is going to take care of itself. I want to make sure I go somewhere with a great education.”
It’s clear the Hurricanes hammered home the academic benefits of being a private school, and that resonated with Austin-Cave and his family.
“It’s a small school, so it’ll be easier to acclimate and do very well in the classroom there,” Austin-Cave said. “So that was one of the big things for me - I want to go somewhere where I feel comfortable, go somewhere where I have a great connection with the professors and the teachers, and overall succeed in the classroom.
“So, with the University of Miami, if I’m going there, there’s a lot of hard work to be put in because the school itself holds a lot of weight. Overall, it’s one of the best schools of all-time academically, can’t get much better than that.”
What was something new he learned about the program that he didn’t know before?
“The population of the school kind of blew me away,” Austin-Cave said. “From the outside looking in, you’d think a lot of kids go there, but there’s only 11,000 kids that go there. That really kind of shocked me in a sense. I want to be able to go to a school like that where, aside from football, I can really focus in. It’s great, there’s not too many schools where I’d have the opportunity to go to a private school like that. So that aspect blew me away, it really did.”
The 6-1 205 pound prospect was hosted by Gilbert Frierson, and spent a lot of time talking to defensive coordinator Blake Baker about his fit in UM’s defense.
“Coach Baker, I like him a lot. I get great vibes off coach Baker,” Austin-Cave said. “I like the way he was talking about using me in the future.”
All things considered, Austin-Cave felt that UM moved up in his mind based on the visit and he sees big things in the future for Manny Diaz’s Hurricanes.
“The school is on the come up right now, looking to do big things in the ACC. The potential they have coming in there, I just want to be a part of it,” Austin-Cave said. “Growing up, that’s one of the schools you dream about going to. All the great linebackers - Ray Lewis came out of that school. Miami is probably one of the greatest colleges in college football history, ‘The U’. Like who wouldn’t want to go to ‘The U’?"
Now, factoring in how well his Miami official visit went, Austin-Cave has decided to move up his decision timetable. Instead of taking all five official visits like originally planned, he will officially visit West Virginia on June 14th, then Minnesota on June 18th. After that, he will sit down with his family and come to a final decision shortly afterwards, before the summer ends.
“I was thinking about waiting until after I take all five of my officials, but I’m probably going to cut down a commitment date in a little bit, sooner than expected,” Austin-Cave said. “I’ll probably set a date after I take these next two officials, and after that, I’ll probably wrap this thing up.
“The process has been a lot. I’ll talk with my mom and my dad, and others close to me, and I’ll wrap this thing up in either July or August. I’ll just take these last two officials and be done very soon.”
