Five-star cornerback Cormani McClain committed to the Miami football program on Thursday night after being nearly unanimously projected to choose Florida. Alabama was a finalist for McClain with Florida and Miami. Miami moves up to the eighth-ranked 2023 consensus class per 247 Sports and On3.
Miami defensive analyst and former Hurricanes cornerback coach DeMarcus Van Dyke is credited with the commitment from McClain. McClain joins Antione Jackson who reclassified from the Class of 2024 and Robert Stafford as CBs committed to Miami for 2023. McClain becomes the highest-rated 2023 Miami commit.
Both 247 Sports and On3 rank McClain as the second-best player and top-ranked CB and in Florida in the Class of 2023. McClain is the second consensus five-star 2023 Miami commit with offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa. McClain should have the opportunity to compete to be a starter for Miami in 2023.
There could be some uncertainty for Miami at CB during the 2023 off-season. D.J. Ivey is the only senior CB on the Miami football roster. Tyrique Stevenson could decide to enter the NFL Draft and other Miami CBs could transfer. Miami will have added seven new CBs since Mario Cristobal was hired in December 2021.
5-star CB Cormani McClain just committed to Miami. I’ll be the first to humbly admit I had no idea this was happening. Unreal close for Mario Cristobal and this staff. Demarcus Van Dyke has been driving the boat on this recruitment for a while now and deserves a TON of credit.
— Gaby Urrutia (@GabyUrrutia247) October 27, 2022
Miami signed four-star CBs Chris Graves and Khamauri Rogers, three-star Jaden Harris in the Class of 2022 and added West Virginia transfer Darryl Porter last offseason. The Miami CB depth chart has been almost completely remade in less than one year by Cristobal and his staff. McClain gives Miami excellent length at 6’2.
Andrew Ivins of 247 Sports stated most talent evaluators view McClain as a generational talent because of his length, 4.5 second time in the 40-yard dash, 128-inch broad jump and elite ball skills. Miami needed to significantly improve their CBs with inconsistent play at the position in recent years including 2022.
Per Ivins McClain did not play CB until his sophomore season in 2020 and had 19 interceptions his first two seasons at the position. Miami received the commitment from McClain despite his last visit to Coral Gables being in June and having two trips to Gainesville since then including the most recent on September 3.