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Miami had over 20 official visitors this weekend, which may have been the largest recruiting weekend in terms of official visitors in Miami history. About half of those were current commits that are all locked in with the Canes, so for this update, I’m going to focus just on the targets that were on campus: S Tyrique Stevenson, DE Khris Bogle, TE Keon Zipperer, DE Lloyd Summerall, WR John Dunmore, OT Adam ElGammal, S Martin Emerson, and DT Jared Harrison-Hunte, in addition to transfer targets RB Asa Martin and OT Tommy Kennedy.
**On Stevenson: The visit went very well for Stevenson and I’m told Miami still feels they have a great shot to land him, but I did not hear the one thing I was looking to hear. The one key for getting Stevenson to Miami has always been getting his mom on board with UM, as she’s been steering him to UGA for a while now. So that’s really what I wanted to hear about after the visit: How does mom feel about UM now? While I’m told she did love the visit, she still wants her son at UGA. Things could change in the next few days as we hit the home stretch, and I’ll keep my ear to the ground, but that’s why I can’t feel comfortable picking Miami as of right now.
**On Bogle: The Canes also feel confident on signing Bogle, but with Kayvon Thibodeaux now at Oregon, the Cardinal Gibbons star is going to get the full court press by Alabama. I still have Miami out in front, and the good news is that the dead period will be in effect from now until Bogle makes his decision on Jan. 5th, so Alabama won’t be able to get him on campus or have any kind of face-to-face contact. However, when Nick Saban is involved, it’s never over, so we’ll continue to monitor and see if anything develops further with Bogle and the Tide.
**On Zipperer and Summerall: The buzz here had been trending in Miami’s direction for a few weeks now, but like I’ve alluded to in the past, I believe the Lakeland duo are misleading people as to their intentions to drum up suspense for their announcement and it will be hard to really get an accurate read on this recruitment. For what it’s worth, one source close to Summerall that previously felt that Miami was out in front changed their tune this weekend and is now telling me the pick is likely to be UF.
**On Dunmore: Sources close to Dunmore told me early last week that he was set to Penn State and wouldn’t take any other visits. However, Dunmore ended up making the visit to UM this weekend against the protests of the Penn State coaching staff; James Franklin came for an in-home visit with Dunmore to specifically try and convince him not to visit Miami. I’m told Dunmore loved his UM visit and is now torn as to what his final decision should be. While I’d still pick Penn State until hearing otherwise, the Nittany Lions’ staff has to be feeling a little nervous at this point.
**On Kennedy and Martin: As I said last week, sources felt good that Kennedy and Martin would be Hurricanes and I picked UM for both. I have heard nothing coming out of the weekend to make me change my mind on that.
**On ElGammal: Like I said in Zion Nelson’s commitment post last week, I’m still not sure ElGammal is a take for Miami now that Nelson is a part of the class, although I know ElGammal would love to be. Since he’s not signing early as of now, Miami has a little more time to make that decision.
**On Emerson: This is a two-team race between Miami and Mississippi State and Emerson isn’t signing early, which only aids UM in their flip efforts. Emerson told CIS that he feels making his primary recruiter (coach Ephraim Banda) the new co-DC at Miami actually increased UM’s chances to land him. I’d put it at 50-50 right now that Emerson ends up a Hurricane, with the momentum currently residing with Miami.
**On Harrison-Hunte: While Harrison-Hunte enjoyed his visit, a source close to the recruitment is not confident in Miami’s chances here, but says the Canes are still in the game. The good thing is that Miami still has a chance to make up more ground, as Harrison-Hunte isn’t signing until February as of now.
**A little bonus: on 3-star corner John Dixon, I was told by a source that Miami does not expect him in this class and has begun preparing contingency plans. UM is evaluating Colquitt County (GA) 3-star corner Jay Ward for an offer; Ward is currently not planning on signing early, and has only taken one official visit so far (to LSU). FSU got involved with the 6’1” 175 pound prospect just last week, and Ward also has other offers from Ohio State, Kentucky, and WVU. It’s too early to tell if Ward will be receptive to Miami interest or not.
**On Stevenson: The visit went very well for Stevenson and I’m told Miami still feels they have a great shot to land him, but I did not hear the one thing I was looking to hear. The one key for getting Stevenson to Miami has always been getting his mom on board with UM, as she’s been steering him to UGA for a while now. So that’s really what I wanted to hear about after the visit: How does mom feel about UM now? While I’m told she did love the visit, she still wants her son at UGA. Things could change in the next few days as we hit the home stretch, and I’ll keep my ear to the ground, but that’s why I can’t feel comfortable picking Miami as of right now.
**On Bogle: The Canes also feel confident on signing Bogle, but with Kayvon Thibodeaux now at Oregon, the Cardinal Gibbons star is going to get the full court press by Alabama. I still have Miami out in front, and the good news is that the dead period will be in effect from now until Bogle makes his decision on Jan. 5th, so Alabama won’t be able to get him on campus or have any kind of face-to-face contact. However, when Nick Saban is involved, it’s never over, so we’ll continue to monitor and see if anything develops further with Bogle and the Tide.
**On Zipperer and Summerall: The buzz here had been trending in Miami’s direction for a few weeks now, but like I’ve alluded to in the past, I believe the Lakeland duo are misleading people as to their intentions to drum up suspense for their announcement and it will be hard to really get an accurate read on this recruitment. For what it’s worth, one source close to Summerall that previously felt that Miami was out in front changed their tune this weekend and is now telling me the pick is likely to be UF.
**On Dunmore: Sources close to Dunmore told me early last week that he was set to Penn State and wouldn’t take any other visits. However, Dunmore ended up making the visit to UM this weekend against the protests of the Penn State coaching staff; James Franklin came for an in-home visit with Dunmore to specifically try and convince him not to visit Miami. I’m told Dunmore loved his UM visit and is now torn as to what his final decision should be. While I’d still pick Penn State until hearing otherwise, the Nittany Lions’ staff has to be feeling a little nervous at this point.
**On Kennedy and Martin: As I said last week, sources felt good that Kennedy and Martin would be Hurricanes and I picked UM for both. I have heard nothing coming out of the weekend to make me change my mind on that.
**On ElGammal: Like I said in Zion Nelson’s commitment post last week, I’m still not sure ElGammal is a take for Miami now that Nelson is a part of the class, although I know ElGammal would love to be. Since he’s not signing early as of now, Miami has a little more time to make that decision.
**On Emerson: This is a two-team race between Miami and Mississippi State and Emerson isn’t signing early, which only aids UM in their flip efforts. Emerson told CIS that he feels making his primary recruiter (coach Ephraim Banda) the new co-DC at Miami actually increased UM’s chances to land him. I’d put it at 50-50 right now that Emerson ends up a Hurricane, with the momentum currently residing with Miami.
**On Harrison-Hunte: While Harrison-Hunte enjoyed his visit, a source close to the recruitment is not confident in Miami’s chances here, but says the Canes are still in the game. The good thing is that Miami still has a chance to make up more ground, as Harrison-Hunte isn’t signing until February as of now.
**A little bonus: on 3-star corner John Dixon, I was told by a source that Miami does not expect him in this class and has begun preparing contingency plans. UM is evaluating Colquitt County (GA) 3-star corner Jay Ward for an offer; Ward is currently not planning on signing early, and has only taken one official visit so far (to LSU). FSU got involved with the 6’1” 175 pound prospect just last week, and Ward also has other offers from Ohio State, Kentucky, and WVU. It’s too early to tell if Ward will be receptive to Miami interest or not.
