Jontavius Wyman steps away from football and his future with Miami is unclear

Jontavius Wyman won't play for Miami this season. The true freshman cornerback announced Saturday that he's stepping away from football, at least for now.

"After a lot of thought, prayer, and conversations with the people closest to me, I've decided to sit out from football this year," Wyman wrote. "I WILL BE BACK!!"

Wyman said he intends to return to football at some point. He didn't specifically say that return would be at Miami. Mario Cristobal, for his part, described the situation on 560 WQAM, saying Wyman "is no longer with the team."

Whatever is behind it, the timing is notable given how hard Miami worked to land him in the first place. Wyman had been committed to Georgia since the previous July before flipping to Miami last spring, with the Hurricanes beating out Florida, Florida State, Nebraska and Arizona State to close things out. Defensive backs coach Zac Etheridge led the recruitment, and Wyman pointed to the program's culture and coaching staff as the deciding factors at the time.

He arrived as a four-star prospect out of Jonesboro High School in Georgia, rated inside the top 30 nationally at cornerback by ESPN and ranked in the 40s at the position by Rivals.

Wyman was a two-way star in high school, playing quarterback before shifting into the secondary, and his senior season produced 52 tackles, three tackles for loss and three interceptions, two of which he returned for touchdowns. He also caught 48 passes for 869 yards and 10 touchdowns as an offensive weapon.

At least on paper, Miami's cornerback room can absorb this without much disruption. The Hurricanes return experienced options in Xavier Lucas, Ethan O'Connor, OJ Frederique Jr. and Damari Brown, along with fellow true freshmen Camdin Portis, Jaelen Waters and Brody Jennings still working their way onto the field this fall.

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