MIAMI GARDENS — The night before the first day of the three-day Early Signing Period, two Miami commits and two UM targets came to the Hurricanes’ home stadium to see who would get a major local accolade.
UM commits Jordan Lyle — who just pledged to Miami on Monday — and Joshisa “JoJo” Trader were up for CBS4’s Nat Moore Trophy, which honors the top South Florida high school player. Trader’s teammate at Chaminade-Madonna, Ohio State commit and No. 1 overall prospect Jeremiah Smith was also up for the award, as was Miami Central athlete and FSU commit Lawayne McCoy.
Trader, Lyle and McCoy are all expected to stick with their commitments when they sign on the first day of the Early Signing Period on Wednesday. Smith is more of a wild card. He has been committed to Ohio State since December 2022. But that has not stopped the Hurricanes, Seminoles and Gators from pushing for the generational talent.
“Coach (Mario) Cristobal, he just a Miami guy,” Smith said. “Just telling me, ‘Stay home because you and Joshisa Trader, Jordan Lyle, all the guys committed, we can definitely do something special, bring Miami back to the way it used to be.'”
If Miami could swing the local star from Ohio State to UM like they did with Lyle, it would be a crowning achievement on the recruiting trail and the cherry on top of what is poised to be the second consecutive top-10 recruiting class Cristobal and his staff have put together.
“It’s not done,” Cristobal said in a radio interview on WQAM Monday morning. “You’ve seen it over the years. There’s always a surprise you don’t want to happen and then a surprise that you do want to happen as you get closer to signing day.
“It’s kind of neat. Our first full cycle class, they were freshmen this year and they were awesome. They did a great, great job, and now we have a chance to get our second full class. If you can knock out consecutive and multiple top-10 classes, that’s always the goal. … This class is going to be off the charts.”
Entering the Early Signing Period, Miami has 26 commits and its class ranks sixth in the nation. But the Hurricanes are in the mix for several top prospects. In addition to Smith, Miami is hoping to flip five-star defensive lineman Armondo Blount from FSU and four-star linebacker Adarius Hayes from Florida. If the Hurricanes accomplish that, they could have one of the three best classes in the nation.
The class has a South Florida flair. Of their 26 current commits, eight are from South Florida. Two are from Chaminade-Madonna, which won its third consecutive state title this month, and four are from St. Thomas Aquinas, which won its fifth state championship in a row.
Lyle, who is of those South Florida commits, flipped his commitment Monday night. He had previously been committed to Ohio State but changed his mind so he could stay close to home.
“Ohio State is a great school. Miami is a great school. I was weighing my options, and you can’t ever beat Miami weather and you can’t ever beat being around your family and putting on for your city. That really stood out to me, and the opportunity to play early at both schools were there. So I just took my talents to Miami.
“Ohio State’s a great school. Coach (Tony) Alford’s an outstanding coach. Coach (Ryan) Day is a great coach. But it wasn’t really about the coaches or the team, really. It was more about a personal decision with the weather and being close to my family.”
