Canes set to make final recruiting push

University of Miami coach Randy Shannon and offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland will be in the living room of the top offensive lineman in the country tonight, trying to convince Seantrel Henderson and his parents that The U is the best place for him. 

After they're done, Shannon and Stoutland will come racing back home from chilly St. Paul, Minnesota to host what will be the final recruiting weekend before National Signing Day. Most experts think Henderson, a 6-8, 320-pound monster left tackle and Parade Magazine's National Player of the Year, will opt to stick with Big Ten power Ohio State or Notre Dame when he announces his decision Monday afternoon in a CBS studio in New York. 

But his coach said the Canes, who will host Henderson and a rather large group of visitors this weekend are definitely in the running. "They're definitely on the short list he's seriously thinking about," Cretin-Derham Hall coach Mike Scanlon said. "He wouldn't be wasting their time if he wasn't."

Even though fans might feel down, the Canes have a consensus Top 20 recruiting class according to all three major recruiting services. ESPN currently has UM highest at 12. Both Scout and Rivals have UM 20th. But landing Henderson -- or any other of the top-end weekend visitors -- would go a long way in improving that ranking. And it might even put a smile on some of even the most critical of Shannon bashers. 

So who else will UM get a visit from? Aside from U.S. Army All-American receiver Ivan McCartney from Miramar High (whom UM has a 50-50 shot at) and a handful of other commitments, the rest are out of towners the Canes are hoping to make a big impression on. 

> There is highly-touted defensive tackle Ego Ferguson from Hargrave Military Academy, whose father McDonald played at Miami Edison with UM director of football operations Corey Bell. Florida State and Notre Dame are considered the front runners, though, for the 6-4, 270-pound standout who also has Cal and LSU in the mix. He's supposed to announce his decision Wednesday in New York.

> In addition to Ferguson, two other less touted defensive tackles will be visiting. UM probably has a better shot at landing at least one -- if not both.

Jeffrey Brown, a 6-2, 270-pound senior from Township High in Evanston (Ill.) is expected to become UM's 27th commitment after his weekend visit to Coral Gables. Lightly recruited out of the Chicago area (his other offers are from Eastern Michigan, Illinois State and Toledo), his coach told me Brown is an under the radar star with big hands and a lot of upside. He was discovered by defensive coordinator John Lovett.

Jeff Whitaker, a much more highly-touted player (Rivals has him ranked as the fifth best defensive tackle in the country) out of Warner Robins, Ga., has taken a liking to the Canes and defensive backs coach Wesley McGriff. Whitaker's coach, Bryan Way, said the Canes have worked hard since December 1st to convince Whitaker (also considering Auburn and Georgia) to give UM a look. Wednesday, new defensive line coach Rick Petri was at Warner Robins with McGriff to meet Whitaker.

"A month ago when McGriff came in here, I told him coach, I really don't think you should bother," Way said. "But since that time, their chances have definitely gone up. I still think it's probably going to be Georgia or Auburn. I'm not sure Jeff wants to go that far from home. But then again, a month ago, I wouldn't have even considered Miami. Jeff is definitely intrigued by it and wants to see how it's going to be down there. So, I'd give them a chance."

Whitaker is planning to announce his decision Monday during a press conference at his school at 2 p.m.

> Three other players are scheduled to make trips to UM: Olive Branch (Miss.) offensive tackle Shon Coleman, Fontana (Calif.) linebacker Josh Shirley and Decatur (Ga.) cornerback Marques Dixon. 

Coleman was committed to Auburn and is likely to end up there or somewhere else in the SEC; Shirley might not even make the trip after a "strong visit" at USC last weekend and Dixon, a Tennessee commitment, might not visit either.

> For those that are interested, three video segments I recorded this week have been posted on MiamiHerald.com. There is the Recruiting Report with Larry Blustein, a studio interview with Miami Beach defensive tackle and Canes recruit Delmar Taylor, and another I shot with 2011 quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. Check it out. 

Comments

[twitter.com/jeastside]

Coach Randy hire me as a recruiter in GA and know I can get the to talent to come to the U. I live 10 mins from all of Dekalb county powerhouse, just hit me on my tweeter acct

[Cacita]

Wow, after reading that...I am pumped about this weekend.

[Hurricane Nick]

I Hope Henderson sees all the ProBowlers that we produce and joins the U Family!!

[PinoyCane]

Whoaaaa! Manny is on fire! Good scoops Manny the Man!

[Potrawski23]

if the canes could get mccartney brown and maybe shirley i would be satisfied

[27 Avecane]

your on fire Manny.

[twitter.com/jb_112]

Pulling a couple of these guys this weekend will go a long way for improving our class rankings. Good luck with this weekend Shannon & Staff.. I like the D-line hire by the way. What is your thoughts on the hire Manny?

[IMAWriter]

Manny, being in the top 20 is pretty solid, CONSIDERING how badly we played in 2 TV games, VA Tech, and even worse, Wisconsin.
We played soft, but we LOOKED soft.
Those shots of our games huddling under heat lamps while the Wisconsin guys pounded our guts out bare armed was NOT indicative of a TOUGH football team, or organization.
Sad to say, the Wisconsin game probably cost us 3-4 talented recruits this year, and maybe even next year, UNLESS we get into the ACC Championship game.

[IMAWriter]

Top 20 is more than we deserve, considering how bad, and SOFT we looked against Wisconsin.

[87' canes]

Don't ever in your life call yourselves Canes fans and in the same breath bash the team.......had this been Larry Coker or Butch Davis none of u clowns wouldn't have been this vocal against coach.

[pramis]

Manny, once again, you are putting the other papers to shame with how well you cover the U...

[oldcane]

yea we want guys that are selecting Tulane and Illini...I just want to win the ACC and NC not rivals or scouts number 1...thanks

[202cane]

Good luck to the staff!

[BoriCane76]

RS should bring along, Bryant McKinnei to convince Seantrel, god knows we need him to protect Jacory.

[Aes07]

I know it would be a good problem but what if all these guys say yes? That would be about 35 scholarships. Would we have to
cut some guys?

[scuba]

87 canes...why would you mention Butch Davis and Coker?

[Footballdude]

Do u people really think that the "u" really will win more games than last year? Good luck with that.

[sidcane]

1800GOCANES,that's what these kids want to see,people in the stands! Tics start at $99 for season tickets.Take it out of your tax return.If you cant make it to all the games , give the tic's away on craigs list to someone who cannot afford them.Maybe some dad would like to take his son! WE HAVE TO MAKE A BETTER EFFORT THIS YEAR! This should be a great season.Hope to see ya'll there.6 rowsup at the 30.CANE TIL" I DIE!!!

[CaneFreshman]

Interesting ESPN article about 2006 ESPNU 150

Miami's top recruits in 2006 were:
LeSean McCoy (never ended up at UM obviously)
Sam Shields (average wr/cb and very good special teams player)
Kylan Robinson (never plays)
Javarris James (good but never great RB)

Just thought that was interesting..some 4/5 stars pan out and some don't

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/football/news/story?id=4860278
(from 2006 was Myron rolle, percy harvin, andre smith, demarco murray, stafford, taylor mays all in the top 10)

[CaneFreshman]

Also interesting is that literally every gator prospect turned out to be great

Brandon spikes
tebow
carl johnson
percy harvin
marcus gilbert
and more...

[ponce]

Seriously, we're into 2 star guys who played football for one year? We're competing with Toledo and Buffalo for recruits? This is seriously bad and you know it. Yes, not at 5* guys pan out and some 2* guys make it big, but playing the odds you know you want more 4-5* dudes than 2-3*. It will be a very sad day for us on Wed when no one of significance picks up a U hat. Just wait and see. Dandy impresses no one. And what's with all this "I don't hear from the coaches no more" from recruits? More bad, bad signs.

[emilio]

all four went to gainesville

[FtLauderdaleRealCanesFanInStPaul,Minnesota]

Seantrel is an excellent football player and a really good kid. My daughter attends school at Cretin Derham Hall, so I get to a lot of their football games, so I have seen him play for the last couple of years and his improvement has been staggering. I think he would enjoy getting out of the midwest and having some fun in the Florida sun for a couple of years. With Cretin being a private catholic school ND has had an in with them for a long time, and OSU has done well there in the past, but Steve Walsh also graduated from Cretin so Miami has had some success there. This would be a nice get if they can pull it off..

[jaime]

cane freshman- Yeah. percy Harvin did really well in that playoff game. Fumbles a ball. guess who picks it? You guessed it.

A cane player. Vilma.

Who the balnk is Carl Johnson or Marcus Gilbert? Are they the water boys?

[NigerianCane]

A point about all u idiots that constantly talk about we lost this commit and no longer locking down 'the state of Miami,' Shanon dud not offer most of this so called kids in our back yards and they stopped recruiting some. We didn't loose Luc, we didn't recruit him. Remember, hurtt called him a coach killer because he was stiff on film. Same for the 5'9" corner that was getting killed at the under armour game. Because they are in our bacyard doesn't mean they are good enough for the U. There are some we lost; half of them due to academics and the other we can't get everybody. Also, the top talents were WR & RB, DE heavy; positions we are well stocked in. So b4 the ones of Us that are paranoid about us loosing kids, check the details. Louis Nix was fat and lazy, so coaches stopped recruiting him; Chandler is 5'11". You really want to put him up against 6'7" OL guys? Most of u people need to get informed!

[TheSergeantMajor]

Nice report Manny. Good to see the coaches beating the bushes. I'm real excited about the new DL coach Petri and these sleeper recruits we picked up. They need to keep a chip on their shoulders throughout their tenure in Miami. Prove the so called experts (Rivals, Scout, et al, wrong....along w/many of the bloggers here who are bashing them). I think Petri's signing may help with Whitaker and Ego. We'll see.

I have to agree w/ IMAWriter though. The loss to Wisconsin may have cost us a couple or more of the top recruits when it's all said and done. That game turned me sour and I'm The U's biggest fan. It was a real downer to an otherwise productive season. Recruits saw that game, w/ the heaters on our sidelines and naked Wisconsin women in the stands. We were pathetic. I hope a few leaders emerge as we go into the spring and set this team straight on toughness.

Hopefully we score a few of these remaining recruits. McCartney and Henderson are the two that interest me the most. If McCartney was going to sign with WVU, as many expect, why wouldn't he have done it already like the rest of the turncoats gone north? He already knows The U. Why would he bait Miami (his favorite team) all the way until the end? I can't see that happening. I am expecting that he picks up the old U hat on Wednesday. Just a feeling that loyalty will prevail here and he will tell all that it was always about The U since he was a young kid playing ball.

I think Brown is a given. I'll take him any day of the week. Ego Ferduson is a maybe, and Coleman/Whitaker/Shirley/Dixon are all longshots.

[Joe]

Ponce...whatever dude....you never have anything positive to say....we were in DESPERATE need of offensive line help and what does Shannon and Co do....they sign the top lineman in the state (Linder)....we needed linebacker help and who do they get...a kid FROM GAINSVILLE stating he will "be the next" great linebacker at the U (Nelson)....we dont need running backs...but who do they sign.....only one of the best RB's in the country named Storm Johnson....get real brother...

[Jose T.]

Keep the faith my fellow Canes fans... the U will be back on top sooner rather than later! Believe that!

[CANESWAGGER]

THIS RECRUITING CLASS ABSOLUTELY SUCKS!!! I PROMISE YOU THAT THOSE 2 STAR RECRUITS ARE NEVER EVER EVER EVER GOING TO BECOME GOOD PLAYERS,LET ALONE GREAT PLAYERS! RANDY SHANNON IS DRIVING ME CRAZY WITH THE WAY HE'S DESTROYING THE U!!! HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU JUSTIFY RECRUITING KIDS THAT DONT EVEN HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE PLAYING THE GAME! DELMAR TAYLOR HAS ONLY PLAYED A GRAND TOTAL OF 5 GAMES IN HIS HIGH SCHOOL CAREER! IM SURE HE'S A GREAT KID BUT I REALLY, REALLY DOUBT HE'S A GREAT FOOTBALL PLAYER! THEN YOU GOT ALLEN HURNS AND JEREMY DAVIS..YEAH,THEY GOT SPEED BUT THEY CANT PLAY! THEY CANT RUN PROPER ROUTES AND EVEN WITH THOSE SUPER STICKY GLOVES,THEY STILL DROP PASSES! THOSE ARE OUR FUTURE RECEIVERS?? OH WAIT,I KNOW,THEY CAN PLAY DB,RIGHT? WELL, I DONT KNOW ABOUT YOU BUT I WANT MY DEFENSIVE BACK TO ACTUALLY PICK OFF SOME PASSES EVERY NOW AND THEN BUT YOU CAN'T DO THAT WHEN YOU CAN'T CATCH!THEN WE GOT KEION PAYNE,WHO I PERSONALLY SAW GET LITE UP AGIAN AND AGAIN..BUT SINCE HE'S 6 FOOT WHATEVER INCHES,THEN YEAH,HE CAN PLAY AT THE U..INCREDIBLE! WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO JUST RECRUITING ACTUALL FOOTBALL PLAYERS?? U KNOW,GUYS THATARE GOOD AT WHAT THEY DO AND REALLY ENJOY DOING IT. INSTEAD MR. RANDY
IS GOING AFTER KIDS THAT ARE A CERTAIN HEIGHT AND WEIGHT? REALLY? HE CANT BE SERIOUS RIGHT? YEAH,WELL HE IS! HOW SCARY IS THAT! THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI IS IN MIAMI DADE COUNTY,ARGUABLY THE RICHEST COUNTY IN PRODUCING STUD FOOTBALL PLAYERS IN THE ENTIRE FREAKING PLANET! BUT YET WE GO TO CLOVIS,CALIFORNIA,DORCHESTER,MASS AND BUFFALO,NEY YORK TO FIND "SLEEPERS"???? SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME THAT IM HAVING A HORRIBLE NIGHTMARE!! THIS CANT BE TRUE,CAN IT? ANOTHER THING,WHY DOES UM START RECUITING KIDS AND THEN THEY JUST STOP SHOWING THEM LOVE? NOW,OBVIOUSLY,I CANT CONFIRM THAT BUT ATLEAST 10 RECRUITS HAVE SAID THAT MIAMI JUST STOPPED CALLING THEM AND RECRUITING THEM. NOW DOES THAT SOUND LIKE A TERRIBLE RECRUITING TACTIC OR IS IT JUST ME? HOPEFULLY,RANDY CAN CLOSE STRONG AND LAND SOME KEY COMMITMENTS BECAUSE THIS CLASS CAN USE SOME HELP..AND BY SOME,I MEAN ALOT!AND TRUST ME, IM PRAYING THAT WE DO! WITH THAT SAID..IT'S ALL ABOUT THE "U" BABY!

THIS RECRUITING CLASS ABSOLUTELY SUCKS!!!

[Lyricane]

We screwed up with Chandler and nix. They hasn't coached the class we got two years ago strong enough. Take out the northwestern clan and Randy Shannon has done NOTHING. We are wasting time with him.

[Lyricane]

87 canes...Larry coker was a joke, and butch Davis never did this. And it didn't matter anyways, because he makes his players play, every down. North Carolina owns us for a reason. Vt owned us this year for a reason. Coaching. They had it. We didn't. We fought hard with the likes of
Duke, Virginia, and got killed by wisconsin. Never thought I'd see the day.

[Beacane]

87 Canes your comment is ridiculous. Butch never recieved this type of criticism because he was extremely successful. Coker on the other hand got his share of criticism. If you are implying racism just shut up. Most of us bleed orange and green and could care less what color skin our coach has. Go Canes!!!

[jaime]

87 cane- not true- How many people wanted Larry Cokers head after 2004? MAny.

I for one hate Butch Davis.

[We the Boss]

Shannon is going all in with this class. I like the OL recruits and think with or without Henderson, we have some beasts.

The "sleepers" are atheletic and have upside, if coached up. We'll know in a couple of years since this class could make or break Shannon.

[johnny]

if henderson commits, this is going to be very good, along with linder and the current freshmen, the line is going to be very good for jacorys senior year, I just hope highsmith turns out good. Randy Shannon should have walked through hendersons door with bryant mckinney, mckinney should not have had a problem with that. Its just like michael irvin said in the documentary, "every player that leaves this university has the obligation of coming back!!"

[DA []_ _[] is back!]

Manny great info, but u don't sound so optimistic. Hopefully we land 2 or 3 of these guys.

[BertDawg]

This is the weekend that worries me. Who is really down here to check out the U and who is really down here to party for the Pro Bowl ?

[scUMbag]

Get ready for the decommits this weekend, that's why scUM scheduled over a dozen kids for this weekend. Why, Why, Why - there are no schollies left to give anyway..

Just dumb.

[HENRY]

What happened to all the 5 Star recruits from Dade and Broward?? You tell me we, U, cannt keep these kids here? They rather play for a Bimbo (Jimbo) or a depressed suicidal coach (Meyers) due to tradition??? What the hell are we missing???? Big Name Coach, Better Facilities and a new PRESIDENT. Get Rid of SHALALA, send her back to the Democratic Party.
She has ruined the U sports program. Randy is good at recruiting, period. GO U and lets hope we land some decent kids this year. I agree with some of you, we looked and played soft. We are the Ed Reed hits, the Ray Lewis mean streaks, Irwing dance, where has the soul gone from the program????

[dking]

I think we land 5 of these kids that are visiting.This class will end up in the top 10 and we will have one of the best Oline classes ever when it is all said and done.

[canesfan]

Just a thought, but when a majority of the class is based on OL, DL, and DB's the class is not going to rank very high. Regardless it seems to me with these recruits wanting to play right away, and our depth at the skill positions we would not have gotten a lot of the skill players anyway. They would have to sit out at least 2 years before they hit the field.

[Genie013]

Check out this story about the ESPN 150 for 2006. About 80% of these kids either transferred to another school, got kicked off the team (academics/behavior problems), sustained career ending injuries or were flat out busts. Its a hit or miss even with top 150 players. Don't what the % is for kids outside the ESPN 150.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/football/news/story?id=4860278

[Boca man]

Will the hurricane apologists pleaase stop trying to justify mediocrity. When you compete with Buffalo University for recruits, it is over at UM. Enough of the facade already. Win big next year, or start over!!!!

[365 cane]

I can give a gosh darn about rivals this scouts that!!! I want to win an ACC championship.. If they can play thats great if they cant oh-well. We have the talent coming back to pull in fresh talent next year, due to they will be leaving. its all about numbers, more Jr's and Sr's you have better talent you get because they know they will see the field sooner.

[ColoradoCane]

For those of you freaking out about this years "weak" recruiting class check out the interview with Jimmy Johnson:

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports/dolphins/joerose/2010/01/jimmy_johnson_qa.html

The Canes are going to be just fine.

[jason]

Ponce, one thing to remember is that Butch never really had any #1 classes when he was at UM. He always found those diamonds in the rough and coached them up to be NFL calibur. That's how his predecessors did it to. Coker went for the 5-star recruits and look where it got is...

[Big Smooth]

Our D will be solid this year, Dont forget Ray Ray is 220 now and will be blasting people

[Sarasota 'cane]

I am excited about the weekend! Sentrel join da U youngman. I can hear the 15,000 fans screaming your name!!

Go canes!

[Doseman]

Feels like pain to me, but you can never tell with Shannon, just remember 08 when he pulled Buch and Robinson out and in 07 when he snatched Da Man, Bailey.

[NUMBERJUANPHINSFAN]

87canes, i agree you should never call you're self a canes fan and bash te team in the same breath. I hope by bashing the canes ,you don't mean being critical of Handi" Timeouts are 4 losers" Shannon. Anyway, last recruiting weekend , i do not feel the need to be critical like i have avoided being the last 3 times i have posted, right now i am just praying we get a couple signing day miracles, just crossing my fingers and waiting , God help us!go canes!!!!!