Diaz not worried about low number of commitments

Less than two months away from the Early Signing Period, the Miami Hurricanes have a low number of commitments for their 2022 recruiting class compared to their ACC counterparts, but Miami coach Manny Diaz on Wednesday didn’t express concern about what the fate of that class will be.

Miami’s 2022 class ranks No. 59 in the nation, according to 247Sports, so far after last year’s class ranked No. 11 nationally.

UM has eight non-binding commitments for its 2022 class so far ahead of the Dec. 15 through Dec. 17 Early Signing Period, which is the second-fewest in the 14-team ACC, with the Hurricanes only ahead of Louisville (six).

Despite the low number of commitments, Miami has five pledges from prospects rated by 247Sports Composite score as four-star high school players: quarterback Jacurri Brown (Valdosta, Ga.), athlete/cornerback Chris Graves (Fort Myers), wide receiver Isaiah Horton (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), cornerback Khamauri Rogers (Lexington, Miss.) and safety Markeith Williams (Orlando).

Offensive tackle Falentha Carswell (Sandersville, Ga.), wide receiver Landon Ibieta (Mandeville, La.) and linebacker Justin Medlock (Manvel, Texas) fill out the rest of the class, so far.

“Our number of commitments is low, the quality of commitments is high, which is to me what we’re really concerned about,” Diaz said, without mentioning players by name. “We don’t have a big number to give out just based on our current roster situation.

“I am very pleased with the quality of the players we have that are committed to us. There are some big-time targets that we feel good about our shots to get that we know we’re coming down the stretch.”

Among Miami’s targets who’ve yet to announce a decision are: Miami Central linebacker Wesley Bissainthe, Dillard defensive lineman Nyjalik Kelly, Riverside (Jacksonville) cornerback Jahiem Singletary and Monsignor Pace defensive lineman Shemar Stewart.

But with the NCAA giving student-athletes who competed last season an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the possibility of losing players to the transfer portal, Diaz is unsure of how many players Miami will look to add with this recruiting cycle.

“The actual mix of what our class will end up, I don’t know if that’ll be determined in December or February,” Diaz said. “I don’t know if college football is now not who reports in August. The model of how things were is not anymore. It’s changing right before our eyes.

“A year ago, we were locked out on some really, really good players that wanted to come here. We’re delighted with our [2021] class, our class is phenomenal. But we were locked out on trying to add a few more guys here at the end.”

So Diaz and his coaching staff will wait to see how the team’s current roster shakes out after a 2-4 start to the season before making final decisions for its 2022 class in order for the Hurricanes to be in a better position to address their needs through the transfer portal or late signees, if they need to.

“If you think about what we’ve done, you’re in a situation where you could lose a bunch of guys in one room,” Diaz said. “If you lock yourself out on the number and you can’t make yourself whole of what you need to compete, you’re out.

“They’ve given us the ability to get to 32 [scholarship players who can join the program in a recruiting cycle], but they still cap us at 85 [scholarship players on a football roster] and gave everybody on the team an extra year because of COVID. Having some flexibility in that is going to be a big deal.”