Malachi Toney's breakout performance on Sunday was expected to impress 5-star wide receiver Calvin Russell, and it did.
Now the local blue-chip prospect's recruitment is officially on the table and the Hurricanes are sitting favorably after one week.
Syracuse 5-star WR commit Calvin Russell was impressed with Miami true freshman Malachi Toney, via @BenjaminRivals🙌
— Rivals (@Rivals) September 2, 2025
“It was great, I had great thoughts.”
Read: https://t.co/xDCMEMJcr9 pic.twitter.com/mzZuiZuHtW
We mentioned on Monday that Russell made it clear to various people that he was only attending the Miami-Notre Dame game to watch Toney, his best friend. What he saw was Toney looked like the best freshman wide receiver the Hurricanes have had in nearly a decade.
Now, according to On3/Rivals, Russell is planning on attending another Hurricanes game later this season. He hasn't backed off of his commitment to Syracuse and no one should expect anything like that to happen soon. The Miami staff knows they made a good impression on Russell, and now they are going to let things marinate knowing that the excitement in the community after Saturday's win will also give him something to think about.
4-star WR is locked in after weekend visit
The Hurricanes' 12th-ranked recruiting class already has multiple wide receivers committed,
Four-star wide receiver Vance Spafford committed to Miami back in June, flipping from Georgia. The Hurricanes pulled the 5-foot-11, 175-pound prospect out of southern California. Spafford and four-star tight end Israel Briggs, also from California, are the top-two rated offensive skill prospects in the class.
Spafford took his official visit to Miami over the weekend and now the top-150 national prospect says he's all-in with "The U"
Four-star 2026 WR Miami commit @vance_spafford completed his official visit with the Hurricanes last weekend.
— Marcus Benjamin (@BenjaminRivals) September 2, 2025
“I was locked in before, but it’s good to have some reassurance sometimes.”
More from @Rivals herehttps://t.co/5PatWhlE9R pic.twitter.com/7FMZwpxoip
Spafford told 247Sports that he was also impressed with the way that Toney was worked into the passing offense and that the Hurricanes were explosive all around.
They played a phenomenal game. It was great to see the receivers flourish. They got a bunch of guys and a bunch of guys got targets. Got to see [Malachi Toney] put on a show. That was incredible."
With Spafford in the fold, Miami can turn their attention to Russell and also try to gain an early commitment from his teammate Nick Lennear, one of the top wide receivers in the 2027 class.