The Bank (3/24)

DMoney

Monday at 11:06 AM 3 min read

Miami has been hosting a parade of big-time kids on campus this spring. Here is the latest on some top targets:

- As first reported on the CanesInSight podcast this morning (and later confirmed by on3's Steve Wiltfong), Miami is surging for #1 overall player OT Jackson Cantwell (Nixa, MO). He had a great unofficial visit last week and likes the Coral Gables lifestyle. More importantly, he has strong relationships with Miami's OL staff and believes in their development plan. It will be a battle with Georgia, Oregon and others, but this is a real situation.

- One player on flip watch is OT Joel Ervin (Fort Myers). Don't let his ranking fool you- this is a top-of-the-board type priority. He measured in at 6'6.5, 330+ with 11.5 inch hands and a massive wingspan. I saw him in person and he has an elite NFL frame with minimal bad weight. He decommitted from Louisville this AM and Miami is in a strong position.

- Two names that remain high priorities: RB Derrek Cooper (Chaminade) and OG Canon Pickett (Tampa). They are +1 players, meaning they will always have a spot.

- Miami's new DC Corey Hetherman is bringing a fresh approach to LB recruiting, and his focus is on traits and physicality. He wants long and fast players he can mold. One name that checks those boxes is local four-star Adam Balogoun-Ali (Cardinal Newman). He has strong testing (basketball and track background) and clear upside. He visited this weekend and is a priority.

- Another freaky athlete is Top 100 EDGE Jaquez Wilkes (Wadley, AL). Even though he is from small-town Alabama, he is very open to leaving the state and visited this past weekend with his parents. The Canes are a real player here.

- RB Tradarian Ball (Texarkana, TX) also had a good visit. While he is committed to Oregon and they remain the favorite, Miami is the top competition right now. The four-star speedster is also a +1 player.

- A 2027 QB that visited this weekend and is a name to watch: Top 10 QB Trent Seaborn (Birmingham, AL). He and Peyton Houston (Shreveport, LA) are the main targets for next year.

- In 2028, the big name is Neimann Lawrence (Northwestern). He also visited this weekend and has strong interest early in the process.

- One name Miami would love to flip- Michigan commit CB Brody Jennings (Mandarin). He has real interest.

Click to expand...

Facebook X Bluesky LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp Email Link

Comments (102)

View article View as thread

Damiencane86

Monday at 3:07 PM

FrancisSawyer said:
@Coach Macho and @gogeta4 had a great discussion on why it's so difficult to recruit quality LB prospects here in Florida. I forget what thread it was on so I'm sure either one of those guys will tell you. Anyway the exchange between those two really opened my eyes as to the root cause of our struggles at LB.

It's for this reason that the quoted part above about Hetherman caught my eye. We have been needing a total reset in the way we evaluate and coach LBs and from what I've recently learned from the two gentlemen who post here, Hetherman's philosophy and coaching style with LBs is something that should seem like a breath of fresh air!

That thread made a lot of sense how @Coach Macho broke it down. Too many kids locally are asked to play out of natural positions due to sheer necessity on their teams. And lots of the local schools don't have the resources to hire the legit coaches who can properly teach the nuances of the LB position. Local kids at that spot have a huge learning curve/disadvantage compared to out of area + OOS kids.

GeorgiaHurricane

Monday at 3:21 PM

DMoney said:
Hetherman is very focused on traits and physicality. He wants long, fast guys who test well and can get off blocks. He believes in his ability to develop guys who may be more raw.

Any word on Tyler Atkinson

T
TheATLCane

Monday at 5:14 PM

Coach Macho

Monday at 8:52 PM

Casting a wide night. Love it.

JamesQuall

Monday at 9:01 PM

Memnon said:
I'm far from a blind optimist, but for some reason this feels like its going to be Mario's best class of his tenure thus far.

Maybe not from a rankings standpoint, but from an eval standpoint it appears like we're getting some high quality players if we sign most of our top targets.

Fighting Illini Sport GIF by NCAA March Madness

One9

Monday at 9:11 PM

Coach Macho said:
Casting a wide night. Love it.

Wide night? i know a @Paranos special when i hear it.

SaiyaMan305

Monday at 9:49 PM

Need an update on Flowers....

grover

Monday at 10:10 PM

252cane said:
Grace was undersized tho

I remember his lankiness and arm length were insane. Maybe I'm misremembering.

Hurracanes

Monday at 10:33 PM

Odysseus said:
Our recruiting in the trenches just continue to be elite for real

I wouldn’t say our DL recruiting is elite.

Mario’s OL projects have been disappointing. This year, they need to be more aggressive and $ these kids because our OL is losing a lot next year.

Hurracanes

Monday at 10:37 PM

Memnon said:
I'm far from a blind optimist, but for some reason this feels like its going to be Mario's best class of his tenure thus far.

Maybe not from a rankings standpoint, but from an eval standpoint it appears like we're getting some high quality players if we sign most of our top targets.

The 25’ debacle lit a fire under his *** and new people making decisions on evaluations will do that to you. It is a shame it took this long.

Gocanes1990

Monday at 11:31 PM

Memnon said:
I'm far from a blind optimist, but for some reason this feels like its going to be Mario's best class of his tenure thus far.

Maybe not from a rankings standpoint, but from an eval standpoint it appears like we're getting some high quality players if we sign most of our top targets.

Hes done a nice job cultivating relationships in this class. Some more organization in the building as well. Need to keep track record of winning. Hope we get a nice draft class. The Uga’s and OSUs of the world have negatively recruited us into oblivion on draft picks and development. Hoping we get 5-6 drafted and 3 in the first 100 picks feels possible with cam, arroyo and mayyybe Martinez

Gocanes1990

Monday at 11:31 PM

Hurracanes said:
The 25’ debacle lit a fire under his *** and new people making decisions on evaluations will do that to you. It is a shame it took this long.

Not where I’d like it but improved lol

SinisterCane

Monday at 11:34 PM

FrancisSawyer said:
@Coach Macho and @gogeta4 had a great discussion on why it's so difficult to recruit quality LB prospects here in Florida. I forget what thread it was on so I'm sure either one of those guys will tell you. Anyway the exchange between those two really opened my eyes as to the root cause of our struggles at LB.

It's for this reason that the quoted part above about Hetherman caught my eye. We have been needing a total reset in the way we evaluate and coach LBs and from what I've recently learned from the two gentlemen who post here, Hetherman's philosophy and coaching style with LBs is something that should seem like a breath of fresh air!

Well then recruit LBs out of state

Memnon

Tuesday at 1:18 AM

SinisterCane said:
Well then recruit LBs out of state

2
24/7canes

Tuesday at 1:28 AM

swecane said:
Any word on the top DB kid from Northwestern who declassified to a '25?

he gone

FrancisSawyer

Tuesday at 4:08 AM

SinisterCane said:
Well then recruit LBs out of state

That's certainly part of it but not all of it. Florida isn't the only state that suffers from what we do. That being said, I would like to see the staff ramp up their efforts in Texas and California in addition to states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and Alabama plus a few more.

G
gacaneaddict

Tuesday at 8:18 AM

Gocanes1990 said:
Hes done a nice job cultivating relationships in this class. Some more organization in the building as well. Need to keep track record of winning. Hope we get a nice draft class. The Uga’s and OSUs of the world have negatively recruited us into oblivion on draft picks and development. Hoping we get 5-6 drafted and 3 in the first 100 picks feels possible with cam, arroyo and mayyybe Martinez

I totally get that, and why those 2 bozos Smart and Day would negative recruit us, but Mario has enough track record as a HC having players drafted he can combat it for most part.

Mario needs a first round WR to point to that can take his recruiting pitch to another level.

A WAR Daddy type at DT also.

BeCanes

Tuesday at 10:06 AM

Memnon said:
I'm far from a blind optimist, but for some reason this feels like its going to be Mario's best class of his tenure thus far.

Maybe not from a rankings standpoint, but from an eval standpoint it appears like we're getting some high quality players if we sign most of our top targets.

I miss this.

Hurracanes

Tuesday at 1:02 PM

Gocanes1990 said:
Not where I’d like it but improved lol

I agree. Since Mario has been here, I am not impressed with our evaluations. Too many misses and prioritizing kids who didn’t work out and transferred.

Take away Ward and I’m not sure our roster is significantly better than Diaz’s roster. This class should upgrade our roster.