2020 Miami Central CB Henry Gray committed to the Canes on Saturday afternoon on his Underclassman Day visit to campus.
The 6-1, 175-pounder is currently a consensus 4-star in the national rankings. According to 247Sports, Gray is the #71 player nationally, #9 CB in the country, and the #12 player in The Sunshine State. He is a 4-star and top 100 overall talent on Rivals, but they have not yet ranked players in order on the site. His commitment further solidifies Miami’s early #1 2020 class on 247Sports.
The Player
Gray grew up a Canes fan and recently transferred to Miami Central after previously playing at Miramar, where he recorded 3 picks in his sophomore year and showed a knack for finding the endzone, returning 2 for touchdowns.
Gray is considered a consensus top 100 overall player for good reason. What stands out about Gray on first glance is his frame: he is long and lanky, and uses those attributes well. Physically, he is exactly what Manny Diaz is looking for in a corner and can be left on an island. At such a young age, Gray is already advanced at anticipating routes and utilizes those instincts to quickly break and make a play on the ball. He is a long strider and demonstrates the ability to flip his hips and run in step with any receiver.
Gray is also not afraid to come up and make a big hit on the ball-carrier like some young corners are. Perhaps the most impressive trait he possesses is his excellent tackling form, showing he will be an asset in run support on the outside of Miami’s defense.
Basically, Gray is the complete package at corner that Miami fans should be excited about. He has no ceiling and is an elite prospect that, as he becomes more comfortable with his technique and gains weight, has the potential to develop into the best corner in the country and take away half the field from an offense.
The Class
Gray is the 8th commit overall, the first corner, and the 2nd DB in Miami’s 2020 class, also joining Deland 4-star Avantae Williams, a safety. After receiving his Hurricanes’ offer just three weeks ago on March 9th, Gray’s Miami recruitment progressed quickly. He visited UM for a spring practice this past Thursday, returning to campus again for Underclassman Day yesterday. While he wasn’t planning on committing on the visit, Gray was really feeling the vibe and just couldn’t resist, pulling the trigger for Miami before he left. Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz was his lead recruiter and built a strong connection with Gray; Diaz deserves the credit here for bringing Gray into the fold.
The Canes took 4 CB’s in the 2018 class, adding Al Blades Jr., Gilbert Frierson, DJ Ivey, and Nigel Bethel to the mix. Although that is a quality haul at the position, the jury is still out on if Blades Jr. and Frierson will ultimately end up at safety, while Miami will lose 2 senior CB’s to graduation next off-season. That leaves only 5 corners going into 2019. There are also no current CB commits in the 2019 class, but that is sure to change as well.
Being so early, it’s kind of hard to project out positional numbers for the 2020 class when the 2019 class is still so far away from being completed. So, while a lot depends on how many CB’s Miami takes this year, due to the lack of depth on the current roster, I’m pretty confident in saying UM is going to make the position a priority regardless and sort out the numbers later. With Gray on board, the new top target at CB to keep an eye on is Trinity Christian 4-star Fred Davis, who is showing strong signs of favoring Miami at this point.
The Team
Next year, Miami loses corners Michael Jackson and Jhavonte Dean to graduation. The Canes won’t lose anyone to graduation in the 2019 off-season, so by 2020, it is likely a senior Trajan Bandy is in his second year starting at one corner spot. By that time, we’ll likely know if Blades Jr./Frierson has stuck at corner, and can assume one of them or Ivey is also starting. Behind them, Gray will compete with Bethel and any 2019 signees for a spot in the CB rotation as a true freshman, with the hopes he can develop into a starting level player by his sophomore season in 2021. If he stays on track in his development, Gray can be an All-American level player and potentially leave early for the NFL by his junior season.
The 6-1, 175-pounder is currently a consensus 4-star in the national rankings. According to 247Sports, Gray is the #71 player nationally, #9 CB in the country, and the #12 player in The Sunshine State. He is a 4-star and top 100 overall talent on Rivals, but they have not yet ranked players in order on the site. His commitment further solidifies Miami’s early #1 2020 class on 247Sports.
The Player
Gray grew up a Canes fan and recently transferred to Miami Central after previously playing at Miramar, where he recorded 3 picks in his sophomore year and showed a knack for finding the endzone, returning 2 for touchdowns.
Gray is considered a consensus top 100 overall player for good reason. What stands out about Gray on first glance is his frame: he is long and lanky, and uses those attributes well. Physically, he is exactly what Manny Diaz is looking for in a corner and can be left on an island. At such a young age, Gray is already advanced at anticipating routes and utilizes those instincts to quickly break and make a play on the ball. He is a long strider and demonstrates the ability to flip his hips and run in step with any receiver.
Gray is also not afraid to come up and make a big hit on the ball-carrier like some young corners are. Perhaps the most impressive trait he possesses is his excellent tackling form, showing he will be an asset in run support on the outside of Miami’s defense.
Basically, Gray is the complete package at corner that Miami fans should be excited about. He has no ceiling and is an elite prospect that, as he becomes more comfortable with his technique and gains weight, has the potential to develop into the best corner in the country and take away half the field from an offense.
The Class
Gray is the 8th commit overall, the first corner, and the 2nd DB in Miami’s 2020 class, also joining Deland 4-star Avantae Williams, a safety. After receiving his Hurricanes’ offer just three weeks ago on March 9th, Gray’s Miami recruitment progressed quickly. He visited UM for a spring practice this past Thursday, returning to campus again for Underclassman Day yesterday. While he wasn’t planning on committing on the visit, Gray was really feeling the vibe and just couldn’t resist, pulling the trigger for Miami before he left. Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz was his lead recruiter and built a strong connection with Gray; Diaz deserves the credit here for bringing Gray into the fold.
The Canes took 4 CB’s in the 2018 class, adding Al Blades Jr., Gilbert Frierson, DJ Ivey, and Nigel Bethel to the mix. Although that is a quality haul at the position, the jury is still out on if Blades Jr. and Frierson will ultimately end up at safety, while Miami will lose 2 senior CB’s to graduation next off-season. That leaves only 5 corners going into 2019. There are also no current CB commits in the 2019 class, but that is sure to change as well.
Being so early, it’s kind of hard to project out positional numbers for the 2020 class when the 2019 class is still so far away from being completed. So, while a lot depends on how many CB’s Miami takes this year, due to the lack of depth on the current roster, I’m pretty confident in saying UM is going to make the position a priority regardless and sort out the numbers later. With Gray on board, the new top target at CB to keep an eye on is Trinity Christian 4-star Fred Davis, who is showing strong signs of favoring Miami at this point.
The Team
Next year, Miami loses corners Michael Jackson and Jhavonte Dean to graduation. The Canes won’t lose anyone to graduation in the 2019 off-season, so by 2020, it is likely a senior Trajan Bandy is in his second year starting at one corner spot. By that time, we’ll likely know if Blades Jr./Frierson has stuck at corner, and can assume one of them or Ivey is also starting. Behind them, Gray will compete with Bethel and any 2019 signees for a spot in the CB rotation as a true freshman, with the hopes he can develop into a starting level player by his sophomore season in 2021. If he stays on track in his development, Gray can be an All-American level player and potentially leave early for the NFL by his junior season.
