Raising the ’Canes
Miami elevated in eyes of potential recruits at Elite Prospect Day
Offensive lineman Ziyare Addison and defensive lineman Jarquez Carter were among the dozens of prospects who visited Miami over the weekend, and if they are representative of the crowd, then the Elite Prospect Day event was a huge success.
“(Miami is) top of the list for sure,” Addison told the South Florida Sun Sentinel after his visit. Carter is in the same boat. “I have them up high,” Carter said. “I’m going to make a top 10 in two weeks, and they’re definitely going to be in it.”
The recruits who visited over the weekend had the chance to talk with their potential future position coaches. Carter said he and a group of about eight players talked to Hurricanes defensive line coach Jason Taylor about strategy. Taylor demonstrated a move that helped make him a Hall of Fame pass rusher.
“My favorite part was sitting down with coach Jason Taylor,” said Carter, a four-star prospect from Newberry, near Gainesville. “He was just going over the schemes and going over the move that made him famous — the long arm — and how you can use it in different ways to get past the O-lineman.”
Carter, who visited UM with his father, said the in-depth conversations with coaches are what helped set the visit to Coral Gables apart from others.
“It was a great experience,” Carter said. “They were actually the first school to do that on a visit.
“Every other school usually just tries to show you the good parts, the nice parts … during visits. But they actually sat down and talked football with me and taught me a lot of things, so that was a great experience.”
Addison, a four-star offensive lineman from Riverview, near Tampa, said he enjoyed the chance to watch tape with Miami offensive line coach Alex Mirabal. UM coaches followed up with Addison, visiting him at Sumner High on Monday, and he said he planned to visit Miami again in the spring.
“(It) means a lot, them following up that quick, and shows how much I am of a priority to (the coaches),” Addison said.
Carter, who said he planned to visit Miami again in the future, said he liked the culture at UM, noting how many former players come back to campus.
“When I was there, there were a lot of former players there, talking to the recruits,” Carter said.
The large crowd of recruits who visited over the weekend shows Carter that Miami is doing things right on the trail.
“It just shows that they have a great future,” Carter said. “It just shows that they’re going the right way.”