The Bank (1/31)

The 2026 recruiting season is in full bloom, and that means The Bank is back. Here is the latest on our board:

- Miami will continue its aggressive pursuit of CB J'Vari Flowers (Northwestern) after his reclassification to the Class of '25. His speed is elite at corner and he's an instant-impact returner. The timing of his reclassification is not ideal, as Miami just invested heavily in overhauling its secondary with transfers. But they recognize Flowers's unique talent and want him to be a Hurricane. This battle is just beginning.

- An important part of the process is identifying the biggest priority targets. This list is not exhaustive, but I wanted to spotlight some of the names Miami will target aggressively. James Johnson (North Fort Myers) and Jaimeon Winfield (Dallas, TX via Mississippi) are two of the top targets at DT. At linebacker, the Canes love Izayia Williams (Orlando), Tyler Atkinson (Atlanta), Jordan Campbell (Carol City), Karon Maycock (Central) and Shadarius Toodle (Auburn commit from Mobile whose dad is a lifelong Canes fan). Derek Cooper (Chaminade) and Calvin Russell (Northwestern) are obviously major targets locally on offense. At cornerback, Jaelen Waters (Tampa) and Jordan Thomas (Bergen Catholic, NJ) are names to know. Chauncey Kennon (Sarasota) has not gotten a ton of Miami buzz publicly, but his mom is Sam Shields's cousin and he will be visiting officially.

- The staff loves the offensive line class and is aiming to sign the top class in the country. Some names to know include Grant Wise (Milton, FL, son of former Cane Ty Wise), Keenyi Pepe (IMG), Breck Kolojay (IMG) and Canon Pickett (Tampa).

- Everyone from the Class of 2025 except Bryce Fitzgerald (whose school doesn't allow early enrollees) is here on campus and working out. They haven't played any football yet, but in terms of strength and conditioning benchmarks in testing, this is the most advanced class Cristobal has signed. Hayden Lowe just got his fifth star and is living up to the hype in early workouts. As first reported on CanesInSight months before he flipped, the staff believes Lowe has Top 10 pick potential similar to New York Giants DE Kayvon Thibodeaux (who went to the same high school and also signed with Cristobal). Some other names identified as early standouts were Malachi Toney, Daylyn Upshaw, Kellen Wiley, Brock Schott, SJ Alofaituli and Herbert Scroggins.

- The strength and conditioning team loves the physical tools of our defensive back transfers. Two names who have shown outstanding traits: Zechariah Poyser and Ethan O'Connor. The most impressive transfer overall from a physical standpoint might be DT David Blay.