**The June 2nd Al Golden Camp is shaping up to be an intriguing showcase at the quarterback position with Miami commitments Brad Kaaya and Alin Edouard both planning to attend, along with Alabama product Malik Rosier, who confirmed with me today that he will be at the camp. This will be an extremely unique opportunity for James Coley to get an in-person look at his top targets and for the three of them to compete against each other.
**More on Kaaya: As expected, Brad Kaaya’s stock continues to rise and James Coley deserves a lot of credit for getting on him early. Although he’s still sitting on two offers, I expect that to change very soon. Kaaya won the Golden Gun Award for accuracy at the San Francisco Regional Elite 11. Rivals.com moved Kaaya up to a 4-star prospect and #200 in the country. He was previously a 3-star and unranked. Kaaya isn’t satisfied though, as he told me, “The true ranking is how many games you win at the next level."
**Miami is in a very good spot with Booker T. Washington DE Chad Thomas right now. Thomas has been low-key with the process and don’t expect that to change because that’s his personality. Something that is in Miami’s favor is the fact that Thomas has consistently held a top two of Miami and Florida State, but the recent developments between his former teammate Matthew Thomas and FSU don’t help the ‘Noles chances. There also don’t seem to be any ill effects from the Denver Kirkland situation around signing day. The ‘Canes are the team to beat right now.
**It will be interesting to monitor what the staff does at linebacker in this class. Linebacker isn’t particularly a strong group in South Florida this year and the team needs immediate help so I expect them to reach into Prep school or JUCO for a player or two. Interestingly, Gionni Paul and Gabriel Terry are both still at the school so we will see how that situation plays out and if they’re given another opportunity, especially with depth potentially being an issue this season. Fort Lauderdale LB Jaboree Williams has picked up some nice offers as of late and he will have an opportunity to impress at the upcoming camps, which he plans to attend. Richard Yeargin is the most highly regarded LB in SoFla, but Miami has not shown any interest and it will probably be too late if they do, so you can scratch him off the list of possibilities.
**I had an update with Cardinal Newman WR Travis Rudolph last night, where he seemed sincerely apologetic for his previous comments towards the Miami staff (http://canesinsight.com/threads/52983-4-star-WR-Rudolph-apologetic-towards-Miami). After de-committing from Miami, Rudolph cited the main reason being that Miami was being wishy-washy with the position they wanted him at and the coaches weren’t being upfront with him. He changed his tune last night and that is a very good thing for Miami fans. Rudolph had a great showing throughout the camp circuit and really opened the eyes of some who thought he was only “average” at receiver.
**Miami will have stiff competition for DT Thomas Holley of Brooklyn, but something that the coaches are already pushing hard is the big-city atmosphere of Miami. New York City isn’t often though of as the hotbed for football talent, but Holley’s potential is through the roof. Holley told me this week that he has a trip planned to Miami, Florida, and Florida State towards the end of June so he will be able to see the campus for himself. Once he visits, we will see how much of a chance the ‘Canes truly have.
**The smart money on the next commitment would be Miami Northwestern’s Mike Smith. I’ve been a fan of Smith’s since the first time I saw him last season during a preseason game against Booker T. The Bulls got smashed in that game, but you could see Smith was special. I went to 4 more MNW games last season after that first one and Smith was consistently a force in the backfield. Miami fans should be excited by the possibility of adding him to the defensive class that only has one commit right now (Dalvon Stuckey).
**More on Kaaya: As expected, Brad Kaaya’s stock continues to rise and James Coley deserves a lot of credit for getting on him early. Although he’s still sitting on two offers, I expect that to change very soon. Kaaya won the Golden Gun Award for accuracy at the San Francisco Regional Elite 11. Rivals.com moved Kaaya up to a 4-star prospect and #200 in the country. He was previously a 3-star and unranked. Kaaya isn’t satisfied though, as he told me, “The true ranking is how many games you win at the next level."
**Miami is in a very good spot with Booker T. Washington DE Chad Thomas right now. Thomas has been low-key with the process and don’t expect that to change because that’s his personality. Something that is in Miami’s favor is the fact that Thomas has consistently held a top two of Miami and Florida State, but the recent developments between his former teammate Matthew Thomas and FSU don’t help the ‘Noles chances. There also don’t seem to be any ill effects from the Denver Kirkland situation around signing day. The ‘Canes are the team to beat right now.
**It will be interesting to monitor what the staff does at linebacker in this class. Linebacker isn’t particularly a strong group in South Florida this year and the team needs immediate help so I expect them to reach into Prep school or JUCO for a player or two. Interestingly, Gionni Paul and Gabriel Terry are both still at the school so we will see how that situation plays out and if they’re given another opportunity, especially with depth potentially being an issue this season. Fort Lauderdale LB Jaboree Williams has picked up some nice offers as of late and he will have an opportunity to impress at the upcoming camps, which he plans to attend. Richard Yeargin is the most highly regarded LB in SoFla, but Miami has not shown any interest and it will probably be too late if they do, so you can scratch him off the list of possibilities.
**I had an update with Cardinal Newman WR Travis Rudolph last night, where he seemed sincerely apologetic for his previous comments towards the Miami staff (http://canesinsight.com/threads/52983-4-star-WR-Rudolph-apologetic-towards-Miami). After de-committing from Miami, Rudolph cited the main reason being that Miami was being wishy-washy with the position they wanted him at and the coaches weren’t being upfront with him. He changed his tune last night and that is a very good thing for Miami fans. Rudolph had a great showing throughout the camp circuit and really opened the eyes of some who thought he was only “average” at receiver.
**Miami will have stiff competition for DT Thomas Holley of Brooklyn, but something that the coaches are already pushing hard is the big-city atmosphere of Miami. New York City isn’t often though of as the hotbed for football talent, but Holley’s potential is through the roof. Holley told me this week that he has a trip planned to Miami, Florida, and Florida State towards the end of June so he will be able to see the campus for himself. Once he visits, we will see how much of a chance the ‘Canes truly have.
**The smart money on the next commitment would be Miami Northwestern’s Mike Smith. I’ve been a fan of Smith’s since the first time I saw him last season during a preseason game against Booker T. The Bulls got smashed in that game, but you could see Smith was special. I went to 4 more MNW games last season after that first one and Smith was consistently a force in the backfield. Miami fans should be excited by the possibility of adding him to the defensive class that only has one commit right now (Dalvon Stuckey).
