FOOTBALL TEAM
**13 members of Al Golden’s first two recruiting classes at Miami either never made it on campus or are no longer with the program:
2011 (20 signees)
-Thomas Finnie (kicked off team after arrest)
-Kevin Grooms (did not qualify – at Marshall)
-Eddie Johnson (left school – at Hinds CC)
-Antonio Kinard (did not qualify)
-Gionni Paul (left school)
-Ricardo Williams (transfer)
2012 (33 signees)
-Jacoby Briscoe (transfer – Louisiana-Lafayette)
-Vernon Davis (transfer – West Virginia)
-DeQuan Ivery (left school)
-Angelo Jean-Louis (did not qualify – at Marshall)
-Robert Lockhart (transfer)
-Gabe Terry (left school)
-Josh Witt (concussions)
--This is not an unusual thing to happen at big programs, but a common theme between some of these guys is a lot of them had some character concerns coming out of high school. Coach Golden hasn’t been afraid to take waivers on guys like this, but once they show they haven’t matured or cannot buy into the program, he is not afraid to part ways with them.
**Something we’ve seen from the Golden staff over their first two seasons has been their ability to “revive” a player’s career. In 2011, Jacory Harris and Tommy Streeter stepped up. In 2012, Ben Jones was getting a lot of burn before getting injured, Jeremy Lewis was a key player in the offensive line rotation, and Brandon McGee finally showed why he was such a highly rated player out of high school. This year, there are a few candidates for this role. Luther Robinson will need to play a lot at defensive tackle and he looks like he’s in the best shape of his career. Although Kelvin Cain does not have as much talent as guys like Tyriq McCord and Alquadin Muhammad, he has a lot of experience and seems to be out of the doghouse. Dyron Dye is back at defensive end for good and he has the size to be a big part of the rotation. Finally, there is Eduardo Clements. If healthy, Clements could end up having the second most carries on the team and has shown flashes of being a very reliable runner throughout his career.
**The school announced today that the annual CanesFest event will be open to the public after previously planning to have it open for season ticket holders and Hurricane Club members only. Associate A.D. Chris Freet posted on Twitter that the school “needed to make it public due to some NCAA rules.” The event will be on August 17th from 4-7 P.M. at the Bank United Center.
**Yesterday, the school announced that all single game tickets for the Florida game have been sold out: http://www.hurricanesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=28700&ATCLID=208801260
FOOTBALL RECRUITING
**It has been noted on the message boards recently, but it is evident that the staff comes from the Butch Davis school of talent evaluation. Here is an excerpt from a story back in 2009 on Davis’ ability to project talent down the line:
--Golden and staff have taken a number of kids in this class alone that fall under that description, for example:
Trayone Gray – Gray is already weighing in at 6’2”, 210 pounds and he has yet to step into a legitimate weight room. He hasn’t put up crazy numbers in his career, but based off pure athletic ability and physical build, he might be a top 3 prospect in this class.
Demetrius Jackson – This is the ultimate project recruit with a world of upside. By now, most know that Jackson picked up the game of football this spring after playing basketball his whole high school career. At 6’5”, 215 pounds, Jackson has a 36-inch vertical. Something else I really like is that he comes from one of the top programs in the country and he won’t be completely clueless coming into the college level. Booker T coaches will do a good job with him.
Darrell Langham – Langham is another guy who had little to no hype before committing to Miami, but the staff thought extremely high of. Based on physical traits alone, he’s another guy who could be considered a top 5 prospect in the class. 6’5” with long, smooth strides and big hands.
Ryan Mayes – The first time I saw Mayes was at Miami camp back in June when he jumped right into one-on-ones with a tank top and basketball shorts. He’s the type of jumbo corner/safety combo player that we see in the NFL now. If the coaches can get some of that aggressiveness to come out of him, this could be a very good pickup. Runs in the 4.4-4.5 range at 6’2”, 200 pounds.
Mike Smith – Smith has been more heralded than the rest of this list, but still not enough in my opinion. I attended five Miami Northwestern games last season and he was dominant in all of them. Playing primarily as a hand-on-the-ground pass rusher last season, Smith projects as a linebacker at the next level. Smith played last season at 6’3” and roughly 195 pounds. I’ve seen him multiple times throughout the camp circuit and it’s evident that he’s added about 15-20 pounds of good weight since then. The good news is that he still has the frame to add a lot more without losing that speed.
Dennis Turner – Turner is only about 5’11”, 160 pounds right now, but the coaches offered him on the spot after seeing him at camp. He will definitely need a redshirt year, but if he can develop like the coaches hope then he can be a contributor in a couple years. The depth at corner
**Speaking of Dennis Turner, here is a story I had with him last night: http://www.canesinsight.com/threads/54304-Turner-working-to-silence-critics
--I spoke with Turner after the interview about that statement and I normally don’t look too much into stuff like that, but I could really tell that he has seen the negative comments from people about him and his commitment to Miami and is using it as fuel. I’m looking forward to seeing how he performs this season.
**There were some tweets from Demetrius Jackson a few weeks back that signaled his commitment might not be very strong to Miami, but he seems to have backed off that stance since then. I’ve had a few conversations with him about it and he seems as solid as can be. In my opinion and from talking to someone close to the Booker T. program, his “uncertainty” was more a product of him being so new to the recruiting process and not really understanding the ins-and-outs of it. The fact that two of his teammates (Bethel & Thomas) recently committed to Miami does not hurt either. Here are a couple of tweets that he has sent out recently as well:
BASKETBALL
**Sophomore Tonye Jekiri played most of last season with a torn ligament in his wrist and there was some talk during the season that it would require surgery after the season, but I’m told that surgery ended up not being necessary. Jekiri will be a major building block for Coach Larranaga over the next couple years, as he gives the team a legitimate big man who is a force on the defensive end. Jekiri has all the tools to become a weapon on the offensive end as well and some people close to the program believe that if he progresses to his potential, he could be a candidate to turn pro after his junior season. Jekiri only began playing basketball in 2010 when he moved to the U.S.
**After an impressive showing at the U20 Division B European Championship, basketball signee Manu Lecomte announced on his twitter account that he will be with the Belgian National senior team before he gets on campus in August.
**Associate A.D. Chris Freet told me via Twitter today that the basketball schedule will be released in August. Freet also added that he has seen an early draft of it and the home schedule looks "great".
The ACC announced match ups back in April -
Home: FSU, VT, Syracuse, Duke, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, NC State, Wake Forest, Boston College
Away: FSU, VT, Syracuse, NC State, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland
**13 members of Al Golden’s first two recruiting classes at Miami either never made it on campus or are no longer with the program:
2011 (20 signees)
-Thomas Finnie (kicked off team after arrest)
-Kevin Grooms (did not qualify – at Marshall)
-Eddie Johnson (left school – at Hinds CC)
-Antonio Kinard (did not qualify)
-Gionni Paul (left school)
-Ricardo Williams (transfer)
2012 (33 signees)
-Jacoby Briscoe (transfer – Louisiana-Lafayette)
-Vernon Davis (transfer – West Virginia)
-DeQuan Ivery (left school)
-Angelo Jean-Louis (did not qualify – at Marshall)
-Robert Lockhart (transfer)
-Gabe Terry (left school)
-Josh Witt (concussions)
--This is not an unusual thing to happen at big programs, but a common theme between some of these guys is a lot of them had some character concerns coming out of high school. Coach Golden hasn’t been afraid to take waivers on guys like this, but once they show they haven’t matured or cannot buy into the program, he is not afraid to part ways with them.
**Something we’ve seen from the Golden staff over their first two seasons has been their ability to “revive” a player’s career. In 2011, Jacory Harris and Tommy Streeter stepped up. In 2012, Ben Jones was getting a lot of burn before getting injured, Jeremy Lewis was a key player in the offensive line rotation, and Brandon McGee finally showed why he was such a highly rated player out of high school. This year, there are a few candidates for this role. Luther Robinson will need to play a lot at defensive tackle and he looks like he’s in the best shape of his career. Although Kelvin Cain does not have as much talent as guys like Tyriq McCord and Alquadin Muhammad, he has a lot of experience and seems to be out of the doghouse. Dyron Dye is back at defensive end for good and he has the size to be a big part of the rotation. Finally, there is Eduardo Clements. If healthy, Clements could end up having the second most carries on the team and has shown flashes of being a very reliable runner throughout his career.
**The school announced today that the annual CanesFest event will be open to the public after previously planning to have it open for season ticket holders and Hurricane Club members only. Associate A.D. Chris Freet posted on Twitter that the school “needed to make it public due to some NCAA rules.” The event will be on August 17th from 4-7 P.M. at the Bank United Center.
**Yesterday, the school announced that all single game tickets for the Florida game have been sold out: http://www.hurricanesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=28700&ATCLID=208801260
FOOTBALL RECRUITING
**It has been noted on the message boards recently, but it is evident that the staff comes from the Butch Davis school of talent evaluation. Here is an excerpt from a story back in 2009 on Davis’ ability to project talent down the line:
--Golden and staff have taken a number of kids in this class alone that fall under that description, for example:
Trayone Gray – Gray is already weighing in at 6’2”, 210 pounds and he has yet to step into a legitimate weight room. He hasn’t put up crazy numbers in his career, but based off pure athletic ability and physical build, he might be a top 3 prospect in this class.
Demetrius Jackson – This is the ultimate project recruit with a world of upside. By now, most know that Jackson picked up the game of football this spring after playing basketball his whole high school career. At 6’5”, 215 pounds, Jackson has a 36-inch vertical. Something else I really like is that he comes from one of the top programs in the country and he won’t be completely clueless coming into the college level. Booker T coaches will do a good job with him.
Darrell Langham – Langham is another guy who had little to no hype before committing to Miami, but the staff thought extremely high of. Based on physical traits alone, he’s another guy who could be considered a top 5 prospect in the class. 6’5” with long, smooth strides and big hands.
Ryan Mayes – The first time I saw Mayes was at Miami camp back in June when he jumped right into one-on-ones with a tank top and basketball shorts. He’s the type of jumbo corner/safety combo player that we see in the NFL now. If the coaches can get some of that aggressiveness to come out of him, this could be a very good pickup. Runs in the 4.4-4.5 range at 6’2”, 200 pounds.
Mike Smith – Smith has been more heralded than the rest of this list, but still not enough in my opinion. I attended five Miami Northwestern games last season and he was dominant in all of them. Playing primarily as a hand-on-the-ground pass rusher last season, Smith projects as a linebacker at the next level. Smith played last season at 6’3” and roughly 195 pounds. I’ve seen him multiple times throughout the camp circuit and it’s evident that he’s added about 15-20 pounds of good weight since then. The good news is that he still has the frame to add a lot more without losing that speed.
Dennis Turner – Turner is only about 5’11”, 160 pounds right now, but the coaches offered him on the spot after seeing him at camp. He will definitely need a redshirt year, but if he can develop like the coaches hope then he can be a contributor in a couple years. The depth at corner
**Speaking of Dennis Turner, here is a story I had with him last night: http://www.canesinsight.com/threads/54304-Turner-working-to-silence-critics
--I spoke with Turner after the interview about that statement and I normally don’t look too much into stuff like that, but I could really tell that he has seen the negative comments from people about him and his commitment to Miami and is using it as fuel. I’m looking forward to seeing how he performs this season.
**There were some tweets from Demetrius Jackson a few weeks back that signaled his commitment might not be very strong to Miami, but he seems to have backed off that stance since then. I’ve had a few conversations with him about it and he seems as solid as can be. In my opinion and from talking to someone close to the Booker T. program, his “uncertainty” was more a product of him being so new to the recruiting process and not really understanding the ins-and-outs of it. The fact that two of his teammates (Bethel & Thomas) recently committed to Miami does not hurt either. Here are a couple of tweets that he has sent out recently as well:
BASKETBALL
**Sophomore Tonye Jekiri played most of last season with a torn ligament in his wrist and there was some talk during the season that it would require surgery after the season, but I’m told that surgery ended up not being necessary. Jekiri will be a major building block for Coach Larranaga over the next couple years, as he gives the team a legitimate big man who is a force on the defensive end. Jekiri has all the tools to become a weapon on the offensive end as well and some people close to the program believe that if he progresses to his potential, he could be a candidate to turn pro after his junior season. Jekiri only began playing basketball in 2010 when he moved to the U.S.
**After an impressive showing at the U20 Division B European Championship, basketball signee Manu Lecomte announced on his twitter account that he will be with the Belgian National senior team before he gets on campus in August.
**Associate A.D. Chris Freet told me via Twitter today that the basketball schedule will be released in August. Freet also added that he has seen an early draft of it and the home schedule looks "great".
The ACC announced match ups back in April -
Home: FSU, VT, Syracuse, Duke, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, NC State, Wake Forest, Boston College
Away: FSU, VT, Syracuse, NC State, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland
