Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Banda has plenty of confidence
Miami Hurricanes’ recruiting has had a stigma in recent years that talented prospects commit early in the process only to end up signing elsewhere in the end.
UM has had 80 recruits decommit from the Hurricanes’ past five classes, according to data compiled by 247 Sports. Miami safeties coach and codefensive coordinator Ephraim Banda, who plays a significant role in UM’s recruiting efforts, knows how much winning ties into a team’s ability to recruit, and over the past two seasons, the Hurricanes are 13-13.
As Miami had a critical spring slate of practices cut short due to the novel coronavirus, Banda is confident of what’s to come on the other side of the stay-athome orders from the pandemic.
“I know what’s behind the curtain,” said Banda on Monday in an appearance on 560-AM. “And whenever they let us freakin’ go, I know that we’re going to be successful this year. I know [that] in the bottom of my heart. I really, really do. Because I’ve been here long enough. I know the signs. I see what’s happening.”
Banda has been along on Manny Diaz’s defenses both in Diaz’s time as coordinator and now as head coach. He’s seen the Hurricanes start a season 10-0 and get up to No. 2 in the College Football Playoff rankings in 2017 and experience the 6-7 campaign of last fall.
“I know, once we get this place excited again, [recruits] are going to come,” Banda said. “What we have to do, or continue to do, is find ways to get them excited about Miami. At the end of the day, these young men don’t remember a lot of the past. It is what it is. That’s part of life. What we got to do is go out and win and get them excited about Miami, and that will happen.”
Miami’s 2020 class that either enrolled for the spring semester or will join the team as freshmen ahead of the season, along with its incoming transfers, was a shift in the right direction. At Banda’s safety position, UM had South Dade’s Keshawn Washington already on campus in the spring and signed four-star prospects in Deland’s Avantae Williams and Hialeah Champagnat’s Jalen Harrell and Miramar three-star Brian Balom. Williams is an All-American that chose the Hurricanes over the Florida Gators on National Signing Day.
“We’re doing a great job of really identifying and finding good players,” said Banda, “and look, at the end of the day, some [recruits] are going to leave. You can’t change that. That’s the way this world works now. There’s nothing you can do about that, but you got to get enough of them, like we did this past recruiting cycle and win and get more.”
With Miami able to scout South Florida high schools more closely due to proximity, Banda feels the Hurricanes’ recruiting department gets a head start on the local prospects.
“We know more about them than any school in the country,” he said. “I 100 percent believe that and know that for a fact.”
He pointed to four-star defensive end Elijah Roberts that Miami signed out of powerhouse Miami Columbus. The staff knew about him when he previously played at nearby Coral Park, not nearly as known for its football.
Banda broke down his current group at safety.
“I expect [Bubba Bolden] to play well,” he said. “I expect, really, that upper-echelon group of safeties in Amari Carter, Gurvan Hall and Bubba to be a really strong point for us defensively.
“The spine of our defense — our D-tackles, our linebackers and our safeties — will always be what holds us upright and keeps us as strong as we are. We’re really excited about having those three this year.”
Banda reiterated, as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Blake Baker said previously, that Bolden will be “full go” in his return from his ankle injury once the Hurricanes reconvene ahead of the season.