Miami football gets commitment from 5-star defensive athlete James Williams

The Miami football program received its highest-ranked commitment in the 2021 class when five-star defensive athlete James Williams announced his commitment on Tuesday night.

Five-star defensive athlete James Williams gave the Miami football program its biggest commitment to the Class of 2021 when he commited on Tuesday night. Williams is the ninth-ranked player nationally, the top-ranked player in Florida and the top-ranked athlete in the Class of 2021.

Williams becomes the fourth de-commit in the class of 2021 to recommit to the Hurricanes. The commit came as a surprise with Williams not previously announcing a commitment date and all nine of the crystal balls from 247Sports.Com projecting him to commit to Georgia. Miami moves up to 11th nationally with Williams’ commitment.

Williams is the first five-star player Miami has signed since running back Lorenzo Lingard in 2018. Lingard transferred to Florida in the offseason. Williams would become the highest-rated player to sign with the Miami football program since linebacker Arthur Brown in 2008.

Williams should come in and compete to be a starter immediately. In a tweet posted Tuesday night the two main reasons for the commit now were that Williams wants to focus on his senior season and in his words rep his city. What position Williams plays with Miami will depend on who returns for the 2021 season.

Safeties Gurvan Hall who leads the Miami returnees in tackles for the 2020 season and Bubba Bolden have the option of entering the 2021 NFL Draft. Junior Gilbert Frierson is projected to be the starter at striker in 2021 with sophomore Keontra Smith as his backup. Both will likely return for the 2021 season.

Williams’ commitment to Miami should help attract more talent for 2021. Five-star defensive tackle Leonard Taylor is set to announce his commitment on August 6 and four-star safety Corey Collier August 10. Both Collier and Taylor play at Palmetto. Williams announced a top three of Alabama, Clemson and Georgia in February.

The top three for Williams was amended to Miami and Georgia in June. Williams will play at American Heritage in Planation this fall. As part of his announcement on Twitter, Williams will endear himself to Miami football fans via the #RIPSEANTAYLOR hashtag he used.

At 6’5 218 pounds, Williams is ever bigger than the 6’2, 231 pound Taylor. The commitment from Williams is huge for Manny Diaz and the Miami football staff. The way the 2021 recruiting class has been building with commits this spring and summer expect a few more big names to commit to Miami soon.