Ahead of this week’s Early Signing Period, when most teams sign most of their eventual new freshmen, the Miami Hurricanes have 14 verbal commitments. Their class is No. 34 nationally, according to the 247Sports Composite, which gives it 197 rating points.
The Miami Hurricanes have a better class of decommits than actual commits, for now
The Early Signing Period starts Wednesday.
Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
On another hand, Miami has 15 decommits who were at one point or another pledged to play for the Canes but have since, for any number of reasons, backed away. Those players, together, would make for a class with 203 rating points. They’d be the No. 32 class, as of Sunday night, a couple of notches ahead of Miami’s actual class.
Miami’s decommit list is a high-end collection of talent.
The latest player to move on is four-star linebacker Anthony Solomon, who’d been rumored for weeks to be a Michigan flip and finally became on Sunday night. Three other blue-chips have come and gone from this class so far:
- Five-star Palm Beach Central (Fla.) cornerback Akeem Dent
- Four-star Dunbar (Fla.) defensive end Derick Hunter
- Four-star North Marion (Fla.) offensive tackle Michael Tarquin
Solomon’s from Fort Lauderdale and, like Dent, plays his high school ball in the Canes’ immediate backyard. Dent and Hunter have both since committed to Florida State and Tarquin to Florida. At least Solomon didn’t go to an in-state rival.
Most of the Canes’ decommits have high three-star rankings. It wouldn’t be surprising if several turned out to be really good players elsewhere.
One player, three-star OLB Samuel Brooks, is on both the decommit list and the actual commit list, having decommitted Dec. 12 and recommitted to the Canes three days later. So he’s not included in the ratings points calculation of the decommits.
The Canes’ recruiting has declined in the class of 2019.
Miami was a hot recruiting team in the 2018 class. It had just won 10 games in the regular season, made the Turnover Chain a national thing, and positioned itself as a breakout team. It signed the No. 8 class despite losing four-star DB Josh Jobe late to Alabama.
The Canes had a bad 2018, though. They’re 7-5 entering the Pinstripe Bowl against Wisconsin, a team they played in the Orange a year ago. Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, who’s known for both good recruiting and good defense, left to take over at Temple. Diaz’s departure appeared to be the impetus for at least six of these decommits.
There’s still time to salvage a good class, though, and even if Miami doesn’t, it’ll still have a more talented roster than the rest of the ACC Coastal.
The Canes’ remaining target list is long and includes a bunch of blue-chippers. A four-star DB just announced he’d be deciding between Miami and Georgia. They’re trying hard to close the deal with the No. 1 receiver in the class, former UGA commit Jadon Haselwood, and should add a few more elite players before everything’s finished.
Miami’s probably not getting anywhere near its No. 8 finish from last year, but it’s also not likely to finish outside the top 30. This little fact about the decommits being more touted than the real commits won’t last long.
The Canes are going into signing season with the most talented roster in their division. And even with their recruiting down, they’re only a tick below Virginia Tech for the best class in the Coastal. Things aren’t nearly as bad as they might look, though they’re not nearly as good as they’d be if more of their former commits hadn’t left.
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