’Canes celebrate getting most of ’18 class signed
CORAL GABLES — As college coaches and top high school football prospects across the country prepared for the NCAA’s first Early Signing Period, few knew what to expect as the three-day window opened Wednesday.
It didn’t take long for Miami coach Mark Richt and his staff to learn everything was pointing toward a very good day for the Hurricanes.
Shortly after 7 a.m., Miami announced it had received a signed national letter of intent from the nation’s top-ranked fullback, Realus George. By the time the Hurricanes walked off the practice field after their third workout ahead of their Dec. 30 Orange Bowl showdown against Wisconsin, several other members of Miami’s class had signed.
Among them were fivestar running back prospect Lorenzo Lingard of Orange City University, four-star receiver Mark Pope out of Miami Southridge and St. Thomas Aquinas cornerback and Hurricanes legacy Al Blades Jr. Not long after that, the Hurricanes had added their quarterback of the future, four-star Jarren Williams of Lawrenceville, Ga., Palm Beach Gardens safety Gurvan Hall and two top-10 tight ends, Brevin Jordan of Las Vegas and Will Mallory of Jacksonville.
In all, Miami signed 18 of the 20 players that had orally committed to the program ahead of the Early Signing Period, and another — offensive guard Cleveland Reed of Fort Meade — is expected to sign Thursday.
Together, those 18 signees comprised a class widely regarded as a top-10 group by some of the nation’s major recruiting services, including Rivals. The site rated Miami’s group fourth in the nation.
It is, of course, the most highly regarded class Richt and his staff have put together since arriving at Miami two years ago.
“A lot of people were curious about how the early signing day would go, including ourselves,” Richt said late Wednesday afternoon. “I’m sure coaches across America weren’t quite sure what to think of it, but it seemed like it wasn’t such a bad thing. I know for us it was outstanding. We’re very excited about this group of young men that have decided to sign at this point. We know everything’s not over, really, until February.”
Of Miami’s 18 signees, 14 hail from Florida, 11 are ESPN Top 300 prospects and eight have earned either U.S. Army All-American or Under-Armour All-American honors. Wednesday Richt said he expects between 10-11 of them to be on campus in January as early enrollees, giving them the opportunity to participate in spring football and begin competing for playing time.
And a good number of those signees could make an impact sooner rather than later, considering Miami’s depth woes at positions like running back and tight end.
Lingard, a U.S. Army AllAmerican and the Florida Gatorade Player of the Year, along with Camron Davis of Miami’s Carol City High adds immediate talent to a running-backs group that struggled with depth even before starter Mark Walton was lost to a season-ending ankle injury. With Walton now declaring for the NFL draft, both backs could see significant time beside veteran Travis Homer.
And Williams, rated the No. 7 dual-threat quarterback in the nation by 247Sports, is expected to add intrigue to what could be an interesting competition in the spring.
While Malik Rosier has started all 12 games for Miami, winning 10 of them and passing for 2,917 yards and 25 touchdowns, Richt has said every job on Miami’s roster is open, including the starting quarterback position.
Jordan and Mallory could also make a difference for the Hurricanes, who often used two-tight end sets when a season ago when David Njoku and Chris Herndon both saw significant playing time.
Also signing Wednesday with Miami were kicker Bubba Baxa, offensive lineman John Campbell, Jr., cornerback Gilbert Frierson, wide receiver Brian Hightower, cornerback D.J. Ivey, linebacker Patrick Joyner Jr., defensive lineman Gregory Rousseau, offensive lineman Delone Scaife Jr. and wide receiver Daquris Wiggins.
“It’s always great to bring in talent and bring in guys that will compete,” Richt said.