Five-star defensive lineman Hicks eyes return to Miami after June visit
There’s a long way still to go in the recruitment of DJ Hicks, but the five-star defensive lineman’s weekend in Coral Gables helped the Miami Hurricanes in their chase for the top-five prospect.
It went so well for
Hicks, he’s even starting to think about when he might make the trip from Texas back to Miami again in the fall.
“I would like to,” said Hicks, who’s the No. 1 player at his position in the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the Class of 2023.
It’s potentially a good sign for the Hurricanes as Hicks gets ready to put out a top five later in the month.
As of now, Miami is well positioned to make the cut. It’s one of three schools Hicks visited in June — he also saw the Michigan State Spartans the week before and is visiting the Oregon Ducks this weekend — and interest in a return trip suggests he wants to keep considering the Hurricanes moving forward. He has, after all, now visited Miami twice this year — he also spent almost a week in South Florida in March — and has been a major priority for Mario Cristobal ever since he took over as coach late last year.
Cristobal was also recruiting the 6-foot-4, 270-pound lineman when he was at Oregon, and Hicks said the new coach — and, interestingly, his track record of recruiting and developing offensive linemen — is the biggest reason for his interest in the Hurricanes.
“It’s really just the coaching staff and Coach Cristobal,” said Hicks, who will play his senior season at Paetow in Katy. “He seems like a great coach. He’s going to get a lot of good offensive linemen to come play for him, so I’ll be able go against the best every day.”
Miami does still have tons of competition, though. The Alabama Crimson Tide, Texas
A&M Aggies, LSU Tigers, Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns are all still vying for spots in Hicks’ top five, even though he’ll have only two official visits left to use after he finishes up in Eugene this weekend.
Texas A&M — the closest thing he has to a hometown team in a Power 5 conference — is the frontrunner, according to the 247Sports Crystal Ball.
“No one’s really lockedin yet,” Hicks said.
As for Hicks’ actual official visit in MiamiDade County, offensive lineman Ryan Rodriguez and defensive end Jabari Ishmael were his hosts, and Hicks said one of his biggest takeaways — something he didn’t get during his trip in the winter — was the time spent around some of the players.
“It was really just getting to see the campus and to be able to see the people. Miami is really cool,” Hicks said. “We just talked about football. I liked being around those guys.”
Since he doesn’t plan to make a commitment until the Under Armour AllAmerica Game early next
year, Hicks can still take something of a wait-andsee approach. He said he’ll “probably just go quiet” for a month or so after he finishes up his visit with the Ducks, which will probably turn his recruitment into a battle deep into the fall, when coaches can go visit him in person or bring him to town to see a game-day atmosphere.
With a new coaching staff promising a return to glory for the Hurricanes, Hicks does want to see how Miami performs next season.
Although he doesn’t necessarily need to see the Hurricanes contending for
a national championship quite yet, Hicks wants to see Cristobal deliver on some of the promise, and he’ll especially have a close eye on how the defensive line performs under the tutelage of new defensive line coach Joe Salave’a and new defensive ends coach Rod Wright.
“It’s just a little bit” of a factor, Hicks said. “I want to see how the D-line plays and everything. It doesn’t matter a lot, though.”