Canes will visit recruits’ back yards

UM schedule takes some players back to their hometowns.

Want to make your incoming class of recruits even happier? Go play games in their hometowns.

Lonnie Walker and Chris Lykes will no doubt enjoy traveling home this November with the rest of their new teammates.

The Hurricanes’ nonconference schedule includes road games against LaSalle and George Washing ton. Mi a mi wi l l f a c e L a S a l l e , of Philadelphia, in Walker’s nearby hometown of Reading, Pennsylvania. The George Washington game is Nov. 1 – Newberry College (exhibition) Nov. 10 – Gardner-Webb Nov. 12 – Navy Nov. 16 – Florida A&M Nov. 22 – vs. La Salle (Reading, Pa.) Nov. 25 – North Florida Dec. 2 – vs. Princeton* Dec. 5 – Boston University Dec. 16 – at George Washington Dec. 22, 23, 25 – Diamond Head Classic, Hawaii * Hoophall Miami Invitational, AmericanAirlines Arena, Miami

in D.C., near Lykes’ home turf.

Coach Jim Larranaga said the games were scheduled with those players in mind. Both Walker, a 6-foot-4 shooti ng g u a rd , a nd 5 -7 poi nt guard Lykes will enroll at UM this summer and likely will play in those games.

The schedule includes fifive nonconference games at the Watsco Center and an ESPN-televised event in Hawaii: the Diamond Head C l a s s i c , a t whi c h Mi a mi went 1-2 in 2012-13 before reaching the Sweet 16. This year’s eight-team tournament includes UM and three other teams coming offff NCAA Tournament runs: Middle Tennessee, USC and Hawaii.

UM plays a Nov. 1 exhibition against Newberry, a Division II school in South Carolina, and hosts Gardner-Webb, Navy and Florida A&M before the Nov. 22 trip to face LaSalle. Walker led Reading High, a public school, to its fifirst state championship as a senior and signed with Miami as a fifivestar recruit, with All-American recognition from McDonald’s and Jordan Brand. He is arguably the most ballyhooed signee in program history.

Miami has a Dec. 2 date w i t h P r i n c e t o n i n t h e HoopHall Miami Invitational at AmericanAirlines Arena. It hosts Boston University on Dec. 5 and travels to George Washington on Dec. 16.

The Diamond Head Classic is Dec. 22, 23 and 25.

The ACC and Big Ten have yet to release dates for their annual series.