**This edition of The Work will center around today’s Nike Football Training Combine, which is arguably the top event of its kind in the country.
Position MVPs
QB – Maurice Alexander (2015 Booker T. Washington)
RB – Zander Bernard (2015 Park Vista)
WR – Da’Vante Phillips (2015 Central)
OL – Christian Strachan (2015 Chaminade)
DL – Jarred McGahee (2015 Coral Gables)
LB – Tevon Coney (Palm Beach Gardens 2015)
DB – Tyrek Cole (Miramar 2015)
SPARQ MVP – Robert Burns (2017 Gulliver)
**It’s a shame that Brandon Boyce is only about 5-10 because if he was 3 inches taller he would have offers from every school in the country. Anyone who watched a University School game over the past two years would tell you that Boyce was in the backfield on nearly every play and is just an extremely disruptive force at defensive tackle. Now at St. Thomas Aquinas, Boyce continued to show his explosive ability today in OL-DL drills where he was unblockable. There was a stretch of three plays in a row where he abused Miami commit Leeward Brown. Boyce is currently committed to Duke.
**Another defensive tackle who caught my eye was Coral Gables’ Jarred McGahee, who won MVP for his position on the day. McGahee is a 2015 kid who recently transferred to Gables from Northwestern and has been a relative unknown up to this point. I expect that to change. McGahee has a quick first step and has a hunter’s mentality at the position. Here are McGahee’s junior season highlights - http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2688518/jarred-mcgahee
**Christian Strachan continues to make the strides that many had hoped he would in this offseason, as he won MVP for his position today and looked very impressive doing so. Strachan is headed to Miramar for his senior year, so the rich get richer. That should be a fun line to watch with Strachan and Leeward Brown on the inside. I would be very surprised if Strachan does not have a Miami offer by the end of spring.
**I already wrote a story on 2015 BTW DE Ronique Robinson today, which you can read here - http://www.canesinsight.com/threads/74616-BTW-DE-Ronique-Robinson-has-unlimited-potential - but I would like to give some more thoughts about him here. Miami knows about Robinson and has already offered him. This would be a kid where the Ice Harris addition helps with just because he already got a look at him and could tip the Miami staff off to him early. He wouldn’t have an offer if Ice didn’t think he was a legitimate prospect. Robinson ran a very respectable 4.8 and had a 28-inch vertical today at the combine at 6-7, 235. For as freaky as Demetrius Jackson’s frame is, Robinson might top that. I need to see a lot more of him in pads and even just on the field before he can be dubbed the next Demetrius, but he passing the eye test with flying colors. The Booker T coaching staff has shown once that they can get the most out of a talent like this, so I have high hopes they can do it again.
**2016 Champagnat Catholic OL Chiki Valentine has a world of untapped potential. Valentine is a kid who was at Champagnat last year, but did not play because it was his first year in the United States from Africa. Champagnat brought Valentine in under the same program as current Miami basketball player Tonye Jekiri a few years back. He got beat a couple times, but showed flashes of just brutally dominating people. Once he is able to harness his aggression and play with better balance, you are looking at a 4-star type prospect.
**One of the most impressive prospects today in my eyes was 2016 Naples CB Tyler Byrd. He is a “freak” corner in every sense of the word. Long arms, great speed, attitude, and size.
**2016 Gulliver Prep WR Dionte Mullins continues to put on shows in these camp/7-on-7 settings. I want to see him perform more in pads before putting him in the same category of football players as Ridley and Phillips, but he has the same type of talent as those two.
**I spoke with Hallandale LB Sh’mar Kilby-Lane and he has limited interested in Miami at this point and to say it is “limited” is being generous. Miami likes Kilby-Lane, but he is a heavy Ohio State lean right now and also has Alabama in the mix. Miami does not seem to have any shot here.
**Tarvarus McFadden was offered by Miami a couple months back and they are still in the picture, but he seemed disappointed that the staff has not been keeping in contact with him much lately. He told me that he is way past any hard feelings about the “late” offer and that Miami shows “major love” when they do talk to him, but he wants that contact to be more frequent.
**I was talking to an individual who is very close to the recruitment of both Shawn Burgess-Becker and Calvin Ridley, who basically told me that everything is up in the air with those two right now. Burgess-Becker legitimately has Alabama on top with Miami still definitely right there with them and Ridley is playing things close to the vest. Don’t expect a decision from either one anytime soon, but there could be a potential wildcard in this equation. Both SBB and Ridley really want to play with CB teammate Ronnie Hoggins at the next level and this person told me that if Miami offered Hoggins, that would go a long way to securing their commitment and they might have committed at their original date if Hoggins had an offer. In my opinion, if offering Hoggins meant landing those two, it is a slam-dunk no-brainer. Hoggins is a very good player in his own right and is a superb slot-corner prospect. I don’t see Miami offering though, because this staff has shown they like size at the defensive back position and Tim Irvin already fills the potential spot that Hoggins could play.
**Mark Walton told me that he is still working hard to reclassify to the 2015 class. He did not go into details about the number of credits he needed, but he said he will be taking classes over the summer and potentially night classes as well in order to try to get this done. Walton said he will know by the beginning of next school year if this is a legitimate possibility. For what it’s worth, I have been told that this scenario is extremely unlikely and that it would take a near miracle. Either way, it is good to know that Walton is at least attempting to make it happen and would most likely be on pace to graduate early in 2016 if he still goes through with putting in the work now. Remember, Walton is naturally a 2015 kid by age.
**Stay tuned for more interviews on here and SFHSSPORTS.com throughout the week.
Position MVPs
QB – Maurice Alexander (2015 Booker T. Washington)
RB – Zander Bernard (2015 Park Vista)
WR – Da’Vante Phillips (2015 Central)
OL – Christian Strachan (2015 Chaminade)
DL – Jarred McGahee (2015 Coral Gables)
LB – Tevon Coney (Palm Beach Gardens 2015)
DB – Tyrek Cole (Miramar 2015)
SPARQ MVP – Robert Burns (2017 Gulliver)
**It’s a shame that Brandon Boyce is only about 5-10 because if he was 3 inches taller he would have offers from every school in the country. Anyone who watched a University School game over the past two years would tell you that Boyce was in the backfield on nearly every play and is just an extremely disruptive force at defensive tackle. Now at St. Thomas Aquinas, Boyce continued to show his explosive ability today in OL-DL drills where he was unblockable. There was a stretch of three plays in a row where he abused Miami commit Leeward Brown. Boyce is currently committed to Duke.
**Another defensive tackle who caught my eye was Coral Gables’ Jarred McGahee, who won MVP for his position on the day. McGahee is a 2015 kid who recently transferred to Gables from Northwestern and has been a relative unknown up to this point. I expect that to change. McGahee has a quick first step and has a hunter’s mentality at the position. Here are McGahee’s junior season highlights - http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2688518/jarred-mcgahee
**Christian Strachan continues to make the strides that many had hoped he would in this offseason, as he won MVP for his position today and looked very impressive doing so. Strachan is headed to Miramar for his senior year, so the rich get richer. That should be a fun line to watch with Strachan and Leeward Brown on the inside. I would be very surprised if Strachan does not have a Miami offer by the end of spring.
**I already wrote a story on 2015 BTW DE Ronique Robinson today, which you can read here - http://www.canesinsight.com/threads/74616-BTW-DE-Ronique-Robinson-has-unlimited-potential - but I would like to give some more thoughts about him here. Miami knows about Robinson and has already offered him. This would be a kid where the Ice Harris addition helps with just because he already got a look at him and could tip the Miami staff off to him early. He wouldn’t have an offer if Ice didn’t think he was a legitimate prospect. Robinson ran a very respectable 4.8 and had a 28-inch vertical today at the combine at 6-7, 235. For as freaky as Demetrius Jackson’s frame is, Robinson might top that. I need to see a lot more of him in pads and even just on the field before he can be dubbed the next Demetrius, but he passing the eye test with flying colors. The Booker T coaching staff has shown once that they can get the most out of a talent like this, so I have high hopes they can do it again.
**2016 Champagnat Catholic OL Chiki Valentine has a world of untapped potential. Valentine is a kid who was at Champagnat last year, but did not play because it was his first year in the United States from Africa. Champagnat brought Valentine in under the same program as current Miami basketball player Tonye Jekiri a few years back. He got beat a couple times, but showed flashes of just brutally dominating people. Once he is able to harness his aggression and play with better balance, you are looking at a 4-star type prospect.
**One of the most impressive prospects today in my eyes was 2016 Naples CB Tyler Byrd. He is a “freak” corner in every sense of the word. Long arms, great speed, attitude, and size.
**2016 Gulliver Prep WR Dionte Mullins continues to put on shows in these camp/7-on-7 settings. I want to see him perform more in pads before putting him in the same category of football players as Ridley and Phillips, but he has the same type of talent as those two.
**I spoke with Hallandale LB Sh’mar Kilby-Lane and he has limited interested in Miami at this point and to say it is “limited” is being generous. Miami likes Kilby-Lane, but he is a heavy Ohio State lean right now and also has Alabama in the mix. Miami does not seem to have any shot here.
**Tarvarus McFadden was offered by Miami a couple months back and they are still in the picture, but he seemed disappointed that the staff has not been keeping in contact with him much lately. He told me that he is way past any hard feelings about the “late” offer and that Miami shows “major love” when they do talk to him, but he wants that contact to be more frequent.
**I was talking to an individual who is very close to the recruitment of both Shawn Burgess-Becker and Calvin Ridley, who basically told me that everything is up in the air with those two right now. Burgess-Becker legitimately has Alabama on top with Miami still definitely right there with them and Ridley is playing things close to the vest. Don’t expect a decision from either one anytime soon, but there could be a potential wildcard in this equation. Both SBB and Ridley really want to play with CB teammate Ronnie Hoggins at the next level and this person told me that if Miami offered Hoggins, that would go a long way to securing their commitment and they might have committed at their original date if Hoggins had an offer. In my opinion, if offering Hoggins meant landing those two, it is a slam-dunk no-brainer. Hoggins is a very good player in his own right and is a superb slot-corner prospect. I don’t see Miami offering though, because this staff has shown they like size at the defensive back position and Tim Irvin already fills the potential spot that Hoggins could play.
**Mark Walton told me that he is still working hard to reclassify to the 2015 class. He did not go into details about the number of credits he needed, but he said he will be taking classes over the summer and potentially night classes as well in order to try to get this done. Walton said he will know by the beginning of next school year if this is a legitimate possibility. For what it’s worth, I have been told that this scenario is extremely unlikely and that it would take a near miracle. Either way, it is good to know that Walton is at least attempting to make it happen and would most likely be on pace to graduate early in 2016 if he still goes through with putting in the work now. Remember, Walton is naturally a 2015 kid by age.
**Stay tuned for more interviews on here and SFHSSPORTS.com throughout the week.
