The 2024 Miami football class moved up to fifth nationally and second in the ACC on Wednesday after flipping five-star prospect Justin Scott from Ohio State. Scott was trending to Miami this summer before committing to Ohio State. Miami now has commitments from two of the top three players in Illinois.
Scott instantly becomes the highest-ranked 2024 Miami commit. Scott is the 12th-ranked prospect, third-ranked defensive lineman and top-ranked player in Illinois per the 247 Sports Composite rankings. The Miami football program also has a commitment from four-star edge rusher Marquisse Lightfoot.
Scott attends St. Ignatius and Lightfoot, Kenwood Academy. Lightfoot is the third-ranked prospect in the 2024 Miami class. Scott took his official visit to Miami in June. Joe Salave’a was the primary recruiter for Scott and Jason Taylor was his secondary. Taylor is the third-ranked ACC recruiter and Salave’a is 17th.
Miami was able to flip Scott because of their persistence in his recruiter. Miami has an elite 2024 DL line class. Scott will join four-star prospect Artavius Jones at DT and also has a commitment from four-star edge rusher Elias Rudolph plus Lightfoot. Scott was interviewed by On3 about his decision to flip to Miami from Ohio State.
"“Miami never went away…Miami stayed in the back of my mind. I started talking to the Miami coaches again a couple of weeks ago, and after having a talk with my mom, I made the decision to flip to Miami…Once I had that talk with my mom to let her know how I felt and found out she was OK with my decision, then I knew.”"
Scott is a huge commitment for a Miami football program that projects to lack depth at DT for 2024. Junior Leonard Taylor is expected to leave for the 2024 NFL Draft and Branson Deen is out of eligibility. Expect Mario Cristobal, Taylor and Salave’a to go hard after DTs in the 2024 transfer portal.
Steve Wiltfong of 247 Sports called the flip of Scott the biggest in the 2024 class to date. Miami is working hard to flip a pair of local Ohio State commits. Five-star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith from Chaminade-Madonna who is the top-ranked prospect in 2024 and four-star St. Thomas Aquinas RB Jordan Lyle are high on the Miami radar.