South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Hurricanes land their QB in 2022 recruiting class
The Miami Hurricanes have their quarterback in the 2022 recruiting class as fourstar prospect Jacurri Brown of Lowndes High in Valdosta, Georgia, announced his commitment to UM in a Friday morning ceremony at his school that was streamed on CBS Sports HQ.
Brown chose Miami out of a top five that also included Florida, Auburn, Texas A&M and Arizona State, pulling a UM hat from under the table and even nonchalantly taking a bite of a snack before revealing his choice in front of family, coaches and teammates.
A change on the UF staff this offseason opened up an opportunity for the Hurricanes to swoop up to the top of his list, he said on the program.
“Losing Brian Johnson at Florida, he was really one of my biggest relationships,” Brown said of the former Gators offensive coordinator who is now the Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterbacks coach.
“When that happened, [UM offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee] stepped in and filled that void, and it took off from there, just really built that relationship with him.”
The 6-foot-4, 205-pound signal-caller is the No. 5-ranked dual-threat quarterback in his class, according to the 247 Sports composite rankings, while Rivals tabs him as sixth-best nationally in that category.
“When I do get there, I’ll be the only dualthreat there,” Brown said as starter D’Eriq King has one season left and other Miami quarterbacks on the roster are pocket passers. “[I’m] looking to come in and kind of win over a team and take off to the next chapter in my life.
“Get ready to bring back that Miami swagger in South Florida. You’re going to get a really good competitor, a leader, a guy that doesn’t like losing. Dominate the state of Florida, dominate the conference and, hopefully, win a [national championship].”
Brown will be next in a series of quarterbacks Miami coach Manny Diaz has brought in, something he has prioritized since becoming head coach of the Hurricanes after the 2018 season. Others are King, via transfer from Houston, and Tyler Van Dyke and Jake Garcia as high school recruits.
“I guess it was January 2019, we sort of made a huge priority of our program that we had to recruit quarterbacks that were capable of leading Miami where we think
Miami needs to go,” Diaz said Friday, speaking generally as NCAA recruiting rules do not allow coaches to mention recruits by name until they sign with the team.
“Quarterback recruiting is unique because it is a usually a one-guy-per-class situation. But what we want to do — like we do with every position — we want to create great competition. We want guys that want to come in and challenge the guys we have on our roster so that we every year [we] know that we’re playing with the best possible player we can.”
Brown’s commitment comes a week after he visited Miami independently last weekend, along with seven-on-seven teammate Isaiah Bond, a wide receiver from Buford High in North Georgia. Due to an NCAA recruiting dead period amid the coronavirus pandemic, recruits have not been allowed to have in-person contact with college coaches, restricted to electronic or telephonic communication.
Bond is considering making a commitment in the next month.
The Hurricanes land a quarterback recruit in the 2022 class far ahead of their pace in the 2021 class. Last recruiting cycle, they went without a quarterback up until December’s early signing period, when Garcia signed with Miami. Garcia, by way of California, played his senior year of high school at Georgia’s Grayson High.
While Miami gets a quarterback sooner than it did last go-around, the Hurricanes are not nearly filling up the 2022 class with commitments like in past years to this point in the recruiting cycle.
Brown is only the second commitment for UM, along with Tampa Carrollwood Day defensive tackle Brandon Cleveland, after Chaminade-Madonna defensive end Jamaal Johnson decommitted earlier in March. Diaz has previously stated how the recruiting dead period, currently slated to last through May 31, has impacted the evaluation and relationship-building aspects of recruiting the 2022 class.
Miami actually has a commitment from another four-star quarterback in the 2022 class, but it’s primarily for baseball.
Two-sport star Kaden Martin, from Knoxville Catholic in Tennessee, announced a commitment to UM for “baseball with an opportunity to play football,” as he put it in a March 3 ceremony at his school. The pitcher/outfielder is regarded as a possible high-end MLB draft pick that may not even attend college.