Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Hurricanes encouraged by early recruiting
CORAL GABLES – None of them are going to take any kind of victory lap, not yet, not now.
But make no mistake – the Hurricanes are enjoying the fruits of their labors on the recruiting trail.
Miami picked up verbal commitments from two 2018 four-star prospects Monday when both Miami Southridge receiver Mark Pope and Palm Beach Gardens safety Gurvan Hall pledged to the Hurricanes.
Their respective announcements helped bolster a recruiting class that, early on, has been pegged by several analysts as the best in the country. And the announcements created a social media firestorm that Miami coaches were only happy to participate in themselves, now that NCAA rules allow them to.
“It’s a great day to be a fast, agile, play making Hurricane! U Family!!,” coach Mark Richt wrote on Twitter not long after Pope went public with his commitment.
Late Monday night, that was followed by another post from the coach who, after Hall’s commitment was made public, wrote “Don’t go to bed yet and call the fire department! The block is on fire! It’s a great day to be a knock em back, shut down Hurricane! U Family!”
And yes, recruiting – even this early, with signing day 11 months away – is a huge part of that puzzle.
“Nothing is done until signing day. We know that. Until a guy comes midyear or until a guy signs, it’s all hopeful,” Richt said Tuesday after the Hurricanes wrapped up their fourth workout of the spring. “But I do think we have the right kind of people who are choosing to commit because they love the place, not because we’re trying to push them into it. They’re excited about what’s happening and they want to be here.”
With the additions of Pope and Hall, the Hurricanes now have 15 players committed to their 2018 class. Of those, one – running back Lorenzo Lingard – is a five-star prospect, while eight more players are ranked at least four-star prospects by 247Sports.com. The site has Miami’s class ranked highest in the nation. Rivals.com has also rated the Hurricanes’ class the best in the nation, with in-state rival Florida State’s class ranked at fifth and Florida’s class at No. 32.
The hope, now, is that Miami can hang on to those commitments – and add to its recruiting success.
“We all know those kids know each other. They like each other. They want to play on the same team with a lot of these guys they know are great players and great people,” Richt said. “A lot of your commitments become your best recruiters.”
Through four spring workouts, the Hurricanes remain without several of their top injured players, including running back Trayone Gray and offensive linemen Sunny Odogwu and Nick Linder. On Tuesday, Richt said that injured receiver Lawrence Cager continues making progress and is running at full speed, though it remains uncertain whether he’ll participate in
any kind of contact. Richt said it’s unlikely Gray will participate in spring practice, while offensive line coach Stacy Searels said he’s hopeful the two veteran linemen can participate toward the latter part of spring workouts.
Like Richt last week, Searels had nothing but high praise for freshman lineman Navaughn Donaldson, who has worked himself into the starting rotation early through spring workouts despite the fact he’s been on campus for just a little more than two months. “Navaughn coming in here has really picked up things quick,” Searels said. “He’s a very intelligent young man, the thing we’ve got to do is keep conditioning him and get him in better shape. He’s worked his tail off in this offseason program and done a good job. He’s doing a good job.” Receivers coach Ron Dugans said receiver
Dionte Mullins, who was on Miami’s practice squad last season, continues improving, though he’d like to see more consistency from the former Gulliver Prep standout.
“That’s what I look for in him. One minute, first play, I’m like, ‘Ooh, we’ve got a guy’ and the next play he’s tired,” Dugans said. “Just learning how to play fatigued, learning to be disciplined on every play, finishing routes, finishing blocks, that’s the biggest thing, teaching him that if you’re in the first group, you’ve got to be a guy that’s got to finish everything and do everything right.”