New UM receiver already impressing. And Illinois coach instigates issue with Hurricanes
When the hurricanes signed 247 Sports’ No. 15 and No. 27 overall receivers in the 2023 class — Nathaniel ‘Ray Ray’ Joseph and Robby Washington — the early returns were fairly modest in a deep receiving room.
Joseph had six catches for 36 yards as a freshman, to go along with two punt returns for 30 yards and nine kickoff returns for 185 yards.
Washington had two catches for 27 yards in very limited playing time.
This year’s freshmen receiver class seems poised to have a bigger impact immediately, amid the departures of Colbie Young to Georgia and Brashard Smith to SMU.
In the 2024 class, UM added 247 Sports’ No. 14 receiver (Hollywood Chaminade Madonna’s Joshisa Trader), the No. 21 receiver (Moultrie-Ga. based Ny Carr) and the No. 32 receiver (St. Thomas’
Aquinas’ Chance Robinson).
Carr and Trader already are on campus. Robinson will arrive this summer.
And new UM quarterback Cam Ward, the Washington State transfer, already is raving about Trader.
“Even the young cat that I’ve been throwing to recently, JoJo Trader,” Ward said in an exclusive newsletter for fans who contribute to UM’s NIL Collective. “I feel like Jojo is that special player that not a lot of teams have in the country at that age for their freshman year. But I feel like he’s going to be a huge impact player for us.”
This past season at Chaminade Madonna, Trader had 47 receptions for 757 yards and 14 touchdowns.
“Big-time kid, elite Power 5 type of guy,” recruiting analyst Larry Blustein said.
Carr finished his high school career with 169 catches for 3195 yards and 44 touchdowns.
Carr, Trader, Robinson,
Joseph and Washington will compete for playing time behind Xavier Restrepo and Jacolby George and Isaiah Horton.
Michael Redding and Shemar Kirk also remain on the roster. A veteran receiver also could be added in the portal.
CRISTOBAL/BIELEMA EXCHANGE
Super Bowl night had an unexpected twist this weekend: An unusual social media exchange involving UM coach Mario Cristobal and Illinois coach Brett Bielema.
Bielema instigated it.
First, the background: UM’s 2024 recruiting class includes the nation’s top two players from Illinois: St. Ignatius five-star defensive lineman Justin Scott and four-star Kenwood Academy edge player Marquise Lightfoot.
247 Sports ranks them the third- and sixth-best players, respectively, at their positions.
Canes Connection — UM’s official Collective that finances NIL marketing deals for players via contributions from donors — has been encouraging fans to donate by posting pictures of various players on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
The Canes Connection post involving Lightfoot read just like the other ones, encouraging donors to “Join the community and directly support Marquise’s journey” by joining the collective.
Bielema reposted that particular post with the comment “Yes, please send me a brochure would love to see how this works.”
Steven Shrum, the Canes director of player personnel/defense, then posted “CHICAGO -> MIAMI” over a 247 Sports chart showing that Miami signed the top two players from Illinois in 2024 class.
Cristobal subtweeted Shrum’s post with the words “My Kind of Brochure.’’