As we inch closer to National Signing Day on Wednesday, February 1st, CanesInSight will be featuring a Miami commit every few days until pen hits paper and the class is complete. First up, meet Miami cornerback commit Trajan Bandy.
CB Trajan Bandy, Christopher Columbus HS (5-9.5, 180 pounds)
Location: West Perrine, Florida
Rankings:
247 sports – 3-star, #38 CB, #413 OVR, #55 in FL
Rivals – 4-star, #9 CB, #9 6 OVR, #23 in FL
ESPN – 4-star, #26 CB, #270 OVR, #42 in FL
Background story: Trajan Bandy has been doubted his entire football career, mainly because of his size – but he thrives on it. An Alpha in every sense of the word, Bandy has been making plays at the Varsity level at Columbus since sophomore year. The instinctive cornerback committed to Bob Stoops and the Oklahoma Sooners on February 21st, 2016. He racked up nearly 25 offers before deciding to commit to OU, but the one major omission from that list was his childhood favorite school, the University of Miami. As Trajan’s father Jeff Bandy told me, Al Golden said Bandy “needed to grow an inch” before the Hurricanes would offer. Needless to say, Mark Richt, Manny Diaz, and company had a lot of ground to make up when they decided that they wanted Bandy. Miami still had not offered Bandy through the first part of the year, when the new staff was sending out offers daily. On May 25th, the Canes sent both Ephraim Banda and Ron Dugans to Columbus’ spring game against Mater Academy when they offered Bandy right after the game.
When he committed: Bandy decommitted from Oklahoma on July 18th and from that point on, it became evident that a flip to Miami was imminent. He committed to the Miami Hurricanes on August 8th and has been one of the most solid and vocal pledges in the 2017 recruiting class.
Freshman year expectations: Bandy will have a real opportunity to come in and compete for the starting nickel spot in Miami’s secondary next season. With Adrian Colbert and Corn Elder graduating and headed to the next level, freshman corner Malek Young is expected to take over one of the boundary corner spots. JaQuan Johnson has played a ton of nickel in his first two season, but we may see him in more of a safety role next season wit Rayshawn Jenkins and Jamal Carter graduating. This opens the door for Bandy to make a big impact right away – and I believe he will do just that. He will enroll at Miami in May.
Videos:
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Articles: Here is a story that I wrote for the Miami Herald on Bandy’s bond with Sean Taylor’s family –
UM commit Trajan Bandy shares bond with Sean Taylor?s family | Miami Herald
Podcast:
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Twitter: @BandyTrajan