What’s up, y’all?
Hope you all had a safe and enjoyable fourth of July weekend. We now sit in the pure dregs of the collegiate sports calendar, so bear with me as I dig up some Miami Hurricanes-related talking points to go over. Let’s get to it.
1) ESPN has an interesting article up where they name the top surprise player for each of their top 25 teams.
For Miami, that is incoming safety Zechariah Poyser from Jacksonville State. This is what ESPN had to say about Poyser’s selection:
You may have heard of Poyser, one of the top available players in the transfer portal this past season. But he should still be considered a sleeper because of the impact he is projected to have in his first year with the Hurricanes. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound safety played his first two seasons at Jacksonville State, earning Freshman All-America honors as a redshirt freshman this past season with 75 tackles and three interceptions. His addition gives the Hurricanes an instant upgrade at safety, where they struggled at times last season. Miami made other additions at defensive back in the portal, but safety was the most glaring area of need and it appears to be filled. – Andrea Adelson, ESPN.com
There’s no doubt that Miami has managed to address some areas of need this offseason in recruiting and the transfer portal, but nowhere has Miami appeared to beef up more than in the secondary. But then again, Cam, Justin, and I could have competed for playing time in last year’s abysmal unit, which honestly might be the worst unit at any position in the program’s recent history, so any competent college player could be looked at as an upgrade.
But Poyser is more than just a body. He’s a lengthy player with good instincts who should provide a good safety net on the back end. I love his upside and think he could be a player who comes out of nowhere (to the casual college football fan) and makes a name for himself in 2025.
2) Miami hoops landed a solid commitment in Columbia, SC four-star SF Treyvon Maddox
Maddox is an On3 Sports industry 4-star player, the 112th overall player, 27th, small forward, and 17th player in Florida for the 2025 cycle, so it’s a nice get. Miami now holds commitments from five players, with three of them four stars. Not bad.
Hey, remember when Miami basketball used to matter? Those were fun times. It was a heck of a run from 2021-2023, where the Canes made the Elite Eight followed by the program’s first-ever Final Four trip.
And it’s been painful seeing them fall on hard times, such that I really wanted to stick my head in the sand for what was going on with them last year.
But Jai Lucas’ strong suit at Duke was recruiting, and that’s appearing to pay off already, as Miami has the 21st-ranked recruiting class. Lucas has also brought in five former four-stars through the transfer portal this offseason to try to turn the program around quickly. Excited to see what he can do in year one.
Go Canes!