Where Miami football stands with 2022 five-star uncommitted recruits

The Miami football program signed two five-star players in the Class of 2021. The Hurricanes are strongly being considered by a handful of 2022 five-star players. Defensive linemen Bear Alexander and Shemar Stewart and offensive tackle Julian Armella all have Miami high on their lists.

The additions of DT Leonard Taylor and safety James Williams to the Hurricanes in 2021 were the first pair of five-star signees with the Miami football program since running back Duke Johnson and cornerback Tracy Howard in 2012. June will be a manic month of recruiting according to Miami head coach Manny Diaz.

Alexander is a long shot, Miami appears to be battling with Florida State for Armella and Stewart received two crystal balls on Sunday projecting he will commit to the Hurricanes. Miami can build a special defensive line in the future if they sign Alexander and Stewart to add to Taylor. That would be three five-star DL.

After signing the 11th ranked class in 2021, if Miami can sign two more five-star players in 2022, they could be in the top 11 for the second straight year. Continuing to add high-level talent will build a foundation for the future Miami signing classes. Rivals.Com had their own look at “How things stand with uncommitted five-stars.”

"Julian Armella offensive tackle 6’5, 278 LBS, St. Thomas Aquinas“Armella visited LSU over the weekend, even though the Tigers had just let go of offensive line coach James Cregg, someone who had developed a strong relationship with the five-star from South Florida. That speaks to just how much interest Armella has in LSU, and it’s still considered one of the top schools for him.Alabama is also very high on the list and some believe this could be an SEC battle to the end. But Armella lives close to the Miami campus and one team to watch is Florida State since he visited there recently, he had a great experience and his dad played for the Seminoles.”"

Alexander and Armella are the only Rivals five-star prospects considering Miami. Stewart is a four-star with Rivals, a five-star in the 247 Sports composite. Armella attended the cookout for Miami last week, took an official visit to LSU last weekend and will be at Alabama this weekend. Miami has a tough battle for the OT.

"Bear Alexander, 6’4″ | 320 LBS | DT | 2022, Forth Worth, Texas, Brewer“On Monday, the five-star defensive tackle now at Fort Worth (Texas) Brewer de-committed from Georgia after committing to the Bulldogs on National Signing Day in February.That decision came only a day after Alexander returned from a trip to Texas A&M, and it now looks like the Aggies are definitely a frontrunner in his recruitment.Texas is right there as well and others cannot be counted out but Alexander is close to some on the A&M staff and that could carry a lot of weight as he refocuses on his recruitment.”"

Alexander announced he is visiting the Miami football program this weekend. Alexander is one of 11 2022 prospects visiting Coral Gables this weekend. Those visitors include 2022 commits, four-star quarterback Jacurri Brown and three-star wide receiver Quan Lee. The next three weekends could produce more commits.

Shemar Stewart 6-5, 260 pounds, defensive end, Opa Locka, Monsignor Pace

There is a sizable gap between Stewart being ranked 36th overall nationally Rivals and seventh on the 247 composite rankings. Rivals has one projection for Stewart to sign with LSU. The two crystal balls that Stewart received earlier this week for Miami were flips from the Tigers. Stewart is a major priority for Miami in 2022.

If the Miami football program can sign a five-star player in 2022, the Hurricanes will have a great foundation to finish with another highly ranked class. Manny Diaz has the right staff in place for the Hurricanes to start signing a high percentage of the top players in South Florida for 2022 and the future. June is a critical month.