Miami Hurricanes recruiting heating up after hot start to season

MIAMI GARDENS — When James Williams was a five-star prospect playing at American Heritage, he was considering several other schools in addition to Miami.

“When I was growing up, the only thing I wanted to see was Miami win,” Williams said.

Williams ultimately chose the Hurricanes over Clemson and Georgia after Miami went 8-3 the season before he signed. Now that the No. 22 Hurricanes picked up a statement victory with their first win over an SEC team in a decade, Williams thinks other South Florida recruits will follow his lead.

“Everybody wants to come to Miami,” Williams said. “They just want Miami to win to come to Miami. So once Miami’s winning, you’ll see nobody … wants to deny Miami. Miami is Miami. Everybody wants to be here.”

Unsurprisingly, Mario Cristobal has prioritized South Florida recruiting since he arrived at UM after the 2021 season. In his first recruiting class, only three of 15 high school signees were from Miami-Dade or Broward counties. Eight of the 26 players in Miami’s 2023 class were from South Florida.

In the 2024 class, eight of the 22 current commits are South Floridians, and UM would like to add more. Of Miami’s three 2025 commits, one is from Miami-Dade County and another is from Palm Beach County.

“Miami is working its way to looking (like) what Miami should look like,” Cristobal said after beating Bethune-Cookman on Thursday. “I think what you’re seeing, in terms in recruiting, is monstrous as it applies to anything that is legal and compliant.”

Some of those South Floridians have made immediate impacts this season. Former American Heritage running back Mark Fletcher Jr. was off to a hot start before suffering an injury against Texas A&M. Former Miami Central defensive lineman Rueben Bain made his first career start against Bethune-Cookman. Many freshmen got playing time against the Wildcats, and former Dillard running back Chris Johnson Jr. scored his first career touchdown on Thursday.

Current recruits are taking note of Miami’s success early this season, and they are talking to their former teammates who are now Hurricanes.

Byron Louis, a standout 2025 running back at American Heritage, said Fletcher is like his “big brother,” and they speak about once per week.

“I love everything that they’re doing over there,” Louis said. “They’re doing it big. The future is definitely bright over there. As recruiting-wise go, we might see a future ‘Cane.”

Louis said it is appealing to him to see the Hurricanes bring in a lot of local talent because he knows many of the nation’s top players are from this area.

“Everybody’s South Florida there,” Louis said. “That’s what happens when … two counties come together, and they built the team. That’s what I love about Miami. They’re not going out of state to recruit. They’re staying local because they know that this is where the dudes are in the country. They know the best of the best are down here.”

Louis is teammates with one current Miami commit: 2026 wide receiver Malachi Toney. He faced two more on Friday, scoring a touchdown in a loss to powerhouse Chaminade-Madonna, which features five-star UM wide-receiver commit Joshisa “JoJo” Trader and four-star safety commit Zaquan Patterson. Cristobal and Miami wide receivers coach Kevin Beard were in attendance for Friday’s game.

“I was a little nervous,” Patterson said. “I didn’t want to mess up in front of coach.”

Patterson committed to Miami on Aug. 26, and since then, he has seen the buzz around the Hurricanes take off.

“It’s amazing right now, especially with the way we’re playing right now and how we’re beating people how we’re supposed to,” Patterson said. “I definitely think it’s going to bring in more higher recruits because that’s the only thing that was holding them back was whether or not we were going to win or not this year.”

The results are already starting to show. In the days following Miami’s win over Texas A&M, they secured commitments from four-star 2025 wide receiver Waden Charles (Palm Beach Central) and five-star 2025 defensive lineman Armondo Blount (Miami Central). Blount is currently rated the No. 5 player in the 2025 class by 247Sports’ composite rankings. If he holds that spot and signs with UM, he will be the top-rated player to sign with the Hurricanes in more than 20 years.

“Local players are starting to stay home,” Bain said. “That’s what we did back in the day, as ‘Canes. That’s what really made Miami, Miami. So coach Cristobal is very adamant about that. The guys coming to stay home, y’all make that move because if not, I don’t know what you’re doing. Being a ‘Cane is the best thing I ever did.”