Miami football missing out on 5-star local recruits becoming national trend

When five-star players from South Florida opt to leave the area for college the Miami football program is often blamed for not being able to sign recruits in their own region. Five-star signees going out of state for college is becoming a growing trend.

The last five-star player to sign with the Miami football program was running back Lorenzo Lingard who has since transferred to Florida. Lingard is from Orange City which is halfway between Orlando and Daytona Beach. The last five-star player to sign with Miami from South Florida was defensive end Chad Thomas in 2014.

Thomas prepped at legendary Booker T. Washington high school in Miami. Five-star cornerback Jason Marshall is projected to sign with Miami for 2021. At 6’2 180 pounds, Marshall perfectly fits the type of outside cover man that Manny Diaz wants for his defense. Getting Marshall to stay home would be a huge coup for Miami.

Missing out on the plethora of five-star players that have left South Florida or the State of Miami as dubbed by legendary Hurricanes coach Howard Schnellenberger has been a frequent criticism of the Miami football program as the Hurricanes have ascended into mediocrity over the last 14 seasons.

Five-star signees heading out of their area and more generally out of state to play college football is becoming an increasing trend in recruiting. Bud Elliott who is a national recruiting analyst for 247Sports examined the trend of five-star recruits who are committed to out of state programs for 2021.

Miami is expected to sign five-star wide receiver Jacorey Brooks and is in the running for linebacker Terrance Lewis who would be the highest signee for the Hurricanes in the Class of 2021. Elliott noted that 51.3 percent of five-star recruits have signed with programs in their own state in the last 20 years.