Miami standing in top-4 for 4-star edge Samuel M’Pemba

The Miami football program was named as one of four finalists on Monday for four-star edge rusher Samuel M’Pemba with Florida, Georgia and Tennessee. M’Pemba is the 29th-ranked player, fourth edge rusher and eighth in Florida out of IMG Academy. Four of M’Pemba’s IMG Academy teammates are committed to Miami for 2023.

Five-star offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa, four-star prospects edge rusher Jayden Wayne and tight end Riley Williams and three-star interior offensive linemen Antonio Tripp play for IMG with M’Pemba. Mauigoa, Wayne and Williams are all ranked in the 247 Sports composite top 100 rankings.

All four 247 Sports crystal balls and the three most recent projects M’Pemba to commit to Georgia. The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine projects Georgia with a 93.7 percent chance to receive a commitment from M’Pemba. Georgia currently has the second-ranked class nationally, Florida eighth and Tennessee 11th.

M’Pemba told On3 “Miami under coach Cristobal is in the rebuilding stage and with the 2023 class they’re building you know that the program is going up.” With Miami in the middle of a disappointing 5-5 season, the comments from M’Pemba are similar to several other recruits. Miami has minimized de-commitments.

Four-star quarterback Jaden Rashada who flipped to Florida last week was the first Miami de-commitment since June. Gaining a commitment from five-star cornerback Cormani McClain last month was huge for Miami. McClain and Mauigoa give Miami one of only seven pairs of five-star recruits in the same 2023 class.

M’Pemba has taken official visits to Georgia and Tennessee in the last month and has one scheduled for Miami next weekend for the Pittsburgh game. Miami received unofficial visits from M’Pemba in March and July. Florida has received four unofficial visits from M’Pemba. Missouri also had four unofficial M’Pemba visits.

M’Pemba would be the third highest-rated player in the 2023 Miami football class behind McClain and Mauigoa. An exceptional athlete, M’Pemba was an edge rusher, linebacker and wide receiver at Ladue Horton Watkins High School in St. Louis before transferring to IMG Academy for the 2022 season.