Canes still in mix as local star LB sets decision date
Wesley Bissainthe does not yet know what school he’s going to pick when he makes his college commitment next month. He does, however, know all three of the Power 5 conference schools from Florida are under serious consideration as he nears decision day.
The Miami Hurricanes have been recruiting him as long as anyone and he was in Miami Gardens on Saturday to watch the Hurricanes beat the Virginia Tech Hokies, 38-26. He was just in Tallahassee on Nov. 13 to watch the Florida State Seminoles beat Miami and he was in Gainesville last month for his official visit with the Florida Gators.
There’s a real chance none of the three will finish the regular season with more than six wins, and there’s a serious possibility two of the three will have new coaching staffs next year. With Bissainthe less than two weeks from making his choice, the four-star linebacker insists the uncertainty with the Gators and Hurricanes isn’t playing a big role in his decision.
“I see it, but that’s not really playing a big role in my recruitment,” Bissainthe said Friday after helping Miami Central beat Plantation American Heritage 41-28 in the Region 4-Class 5A semifinals in Plantation. “Wherever I feel at home, that’s where I want to go.”
Since Friday, Florida lost again and fired coach Dan Mullen, the Seminoles won to move within one win of bowl eligibility and the Hurricanes clinched bowl eligibility
while coach Manny Diaz’s future remains in limbo.
The Seminoles are suddenly the most stable of the three, with coach Mike Norvell almost certainly getting at least one more season. The Gators, who were ranked as high as
No. 10 earlier this season, are already looking for a new coach and Miami is searching for a new athletic director after firing AD Blake James on Nov. 15. A coaching change in Coral Gables is seemingly inevitable, although the new AD will have final say, Rivals.com reported Monday.
The Penn State Nittany Lions and West Virginia Mountaineers round out Bissainthe’s top five.
No matter what happens to Diaz in the next few weeks, Bissainthe is probably the Hurricanes’ best shot to finally add a bluechip South Floridian to their Class of 2021 and it would come at perhaps their biggest position of need. The 6-foot-1, 200pound senior is the No. 21 linebacker in the country, according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings, and he has visited Miami at least 10 times already this year
and could easily get down there a few more times before the early signing period next month, although Central’s season would go through the end of the contact period if it makes the state championship.
Bissainthe plans to commit Dec. 4 and can sign his national letter of intent as early as Dec. 15.
“They’re right down the street,” Bissainthe said.
If they make a coaching change, the Hurricanes’ proximity to Bissainthe will be critical to let the new staff make a quick connection with the twotime first-team all-county selection.
Right now, Bissainthe hasn’t made his pick, but he has to move quickly. He plans to early-enroll, which means next month is a hard deadline.
“I don’t know where I’m going yet,” Bissainthe said. “I talk about it with my family every day, but by Dec. 4 I’ll have my mind made up.
“We’ll see. That’s all I can say.”