My nephew Jalen Blackmon had a very good visit. They spent a lot of time with Coach L and his wife who had them over for breakfast this morning. The family was very impressed with Coach L, they felt he was genuine, and the facilities which are the equivalent of what they have seen elsewhere. And whereas no final numbers were discussed, Miami has a very healthy and competitive NIL program. At a minimum, Jalen is not choosing another school over UM because of NIL. They also loved the campus which they described as more like a resort than college campus.
The issue the family has is that UM still has 5 open roster spots and Coach L admittedly wants 6 guards, 5 forwards and 2 centers. So the concern is if Jalen commits, who else will UM go after. The other issue is playing time. 25 minutes is probably enough, 18-20 is not. UM didn’t promise anything specific but said he needed to arrive and compete. This is Jalen’s last season of college ball so roster and playing time are the only strikes against UM, but they are potential strikes.
I am trying to push but not be seen as trying to push. Their agent loves UM, but Arizona and Nova have both shown recent interest. It is unclear whether Jalen will take any more visits beyond Northwestern and Miami. Right now I would give UM the advantage over Northewestern, in particular because the family likes Coach L. Jalen’s high school coach (dad) was not a yeller so they don’t care for coaches who stomp around and yell and blame players (see Rick Pitino).
Still very fluid and I will disclose what I can.
