Five-star Joshisa Trader staying home with Miami means plenty for The U

This was the vision back in early December, 2021, when Miami announced Mario Cristobal as the new head coach at Miami.

It was to keep local star football recruits home, much like the program relied on in its prior glory, and perhaps the biggest box in that pursuit was just checked by the Hurricanes in winning out for the commitment of Joshisa Trader on Thursday evening.

The Rivals five-star prospect, ranked within the top 15 overall on the network, not only sits as the highest-ranked local verbal commitment for Cristobal at his alma mater, but the optics of winning a national battle so close to home could pay more dividends down the line.

It’s one thing to win a traditional and national recruitment, even five-star battles with recruits outside of south Florida, which has also happened aplenty thus far with recruits like Francis Mauigoa and Samson Okunlola last cycle. But doing it at home in this fashion could potentially mean even more for the value the program could have on the recruiting trail.

Cristobal and The U signed a great class of 2023 last cycle, finishing with the No. 8 overall group on Rivals. It included the aforementioned five-star offensive linemen, but each local five-star type again got away from Miami despite great local pulls like one-time Ohio State commitment Mark Fletcher, one-time Clemson commitment Nathaniel Joseph and one of the most productive Miami-area pass rushers of all time in Rueben Bain. In all, eight south Floridians were brought in.

Cristobal’s first class, 2022, saw Miami take a smaller group, though still with south Florida presence represented, mainly in one-time Florida State commitment Nyjalik Kelly.

In the two classes combined, however, not one of south Florida’s four five-star recruits picked the program despite considerable interest to and from the Hurricanes. Landing Trader could present as the final optical hurdle for Cristobal to climb at Miami, at least from a talent acquisition standpoint, still relatively early in his tenure.

Moreover, Trader is one of three five-stars on his own high school roster at Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade Madonna in the class of 2024, as he flanks fellow wide receiver and Ohio State commitment Jeremiah Smith and uncommitted defensive back Zaquan Patterson. Miami has been pushing for all three and has considerable traction with at least Patterson, beyond Trader, at this time.

The messaging, consistency and push is similar for many of the elite recruits somewhat close to Coral Gables. Trader told Rivals Miami had been the program in communication the most, perhaps by far, as recently as mid June. In that same breath, though, Trader talked about saving all of his official visits for the fall and making a decision late in the game.

So what changed?

“I just feel like I should be home,” Trader told Rivals Thursday night.

While the optics and celebration are likely strong tonight in Coral Gables and the greater south Florida area, there are some counterpoints to illustrate some five months before any recruits can make a verbal commitment official with a National Letter of Intent. There are other programs just as surprised Miami won this recruitment right now, mainly in-state Florida State, Ohio State and perhaps Georgia, the first program to offer Trader despite his geographical ties to Miami.

FSU had been the trending program for many months, per Rivals sources, with Trader. It was not until the hire of wide receiver coach Kevin Beard, whom Trader worked out with at Miami’s Legends Camp back in June, where the tone started to change.

“He’s very focused on the little details,” Trader told us a few weeks back. “The little things is what I need really.”

At least one less-heralded recruits recently committing to Miami are worth noting in this victory, too. Ryan Mack, the secondary projection out of Ft. Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas, picked Miami coming off of that Legends Camp event. Mack was not only Trader’s ride to the event, but his longtime friend and former youth league teammate wanting to compete is the reason Trader laced up his cleats and got the workout in with Beard.

Trader, Mack, Smith and many others were on that same youth team, the Miami Gardens Ravens, so the potential snowball effect for friends staying home to potentially help bring the Canes back to the top is an allure that won’t soon relent. It has been discussed much more locally, of late, and won’t soon slow with Trader’s name on UM’s commitment list.

Optics, trends, momentum and surprise aside, the bare bones of the breaking news Thursday night is that the local five-star wide receiver (who we still think would be an elite defensive back) shut his recruitment down early for the Miami Hurricanes. It’s a big deal on many fronts, but at its core it stands tall because Trader is one of the most skilled prospects in America.

The new UM commitment first starred at Miami (Fla.) Central, a program that has been historically good to Miami from a recruiting standpoint. Making the move to CMHS ahead of the 2022 season, Trader was working with a program that has had just as much — if not more — elite talent yet not much by way of sending kids to Miami. In fact, just two Chaminade-Madonna products are on the Miami roster right now, in a pair of fifth-year seniors. Talk about optics, Trader’s pledge blows the door off of the notion the program can’t poach from the state and national power high school.

Trader brings more elements to the table beyond the stars and his well-known name in college football circles. He has begun to fill out his 6-foot-1 frame, now that he’s healthy, flashing elite talent at every stop this offseason. The Legends Camp was his return to performance after missing the bulk of spring ball and he turned even more heads last weekend at Tutu Atwell’s 7-on-7 tournament, where Trader’s CMHS Lions ran the table against a stacked south Florida pool of programs thanks to key grabs, even of the one-handed variety, from the new Cane.

Overall, Trader brings a presence to the field on the outside, with twitchy traits off the line of scrimmage and true fetch-em ball skills when healthy. His functional strength and elite base will only be enhanced, ditto for his already well-structured route running, as a senior before he begins his college career in the ACC. Stripping away all the optics of this commitment, Trader profiles as a class-headliner type wide receiver or athlete capable of instant stardom at the next level.