Miami Recruiting: 7 Things the Hurricanes Are Hoping for on National Signing Day

With just a couple more days before National Signing Day, the Hurricanes still have a few more scholarships to hand out.

Of the current signing class, seven of them—quarterbacks Gray Crow and Preston Dewey, offensive linemen Ereck Flowers and Taylor Gadbois, linebackers Raphael Kirby and Josh Witt and defensive back Ladarius Gunter—have already started school and will be participating is spring practice.

Here are the seven things that Hurricane fans will be hoping for on Feb. 1.

Landing Avery Young

One of the top offensive linemen in the country recently visited Miami and fell in love with the place.

The 4-star recruit was so impressed that he put Miami down as one of his final 12 schools he may go to.

Young could only help the Hurricanes line that struggled at times last year.

He is a very agile lineman who is extremely explosive and has a great frame (6'5", 292 pounds).

Young is also considering South Carolina, Florida State, Georgia, Auburn, Michigan, Florida, Alabama, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Virginia Tech and North Carolina State.

Snag Tracy Howard

The sweepstakes for Tracy Howard is most likely going to come down to two schools, Miami and Florida. 

Although there are several teams he is still considering, those are the two schools that seem the most confident in getting the No. 1-ranked cornerback (according to ESPN.com).

He has good size (5'11", 175 pounds) and is an extraordinary coverage guy if he were to play cornerback at the next level.

The Hurricanes are very thin at cornerback, and there would be no doubt in my mind that Howard would get a lot of playing time in his freshman season if he were to come to Coral Gables.

Steal Darius Hamilton from UF and Rutgers

Darius Hamilton has shown interests in many schools including Cal, Florida and Rutgers. You can add Miami as another major interest.

Hamilton, a Jersey kid, had Rutgers as one of his top schools to go to, but with head coach Greg Schiano leaving for the NFL, things could drastically change.

Out of all the teams fighting for his services I still believe Miami has the "wild card," Al Golden.

Golden is a New Jersey native that still has strong ties when he was coaching up in the Northeast region of the country.

I think in a surprise move, Hamilton brings his talent to South Beach.

With the lack of depth on the defensive line, he may get immediate playing time, something very important to Hamilton.

Get Josh Harvey-Clemons

Josh Harvey-Clemons is the highest ranked linebacker still to be uncommitted, and I am sure Miami did everything they could as he made a visit to Coral Gables last weekend.

Harvey-Clemons, a Georgia native, is a monster athlete (6'4", 210 pounds) with good speed and is in great in coverage for a linebacker.

Although he will most likely sign with Georgia or Florida, he still lists Miami as one of his choices and don't be surprised if Golden talked him into coming to Miami.

They Steal Jawand Blue from Virginia Tech

In July of last year, Jawand Blue gave Virginia tech his word that he would be a Hokie.

Al Golden has other ideas for Blue, and that is wearing orange and green next year.

The 6', 200-pound linebacker out of Boca Raton, FL. Although he isn't the fastest linebacker in the bunch, he is a great tackler with an amazing motor.

Blue doesn't miss many tackles and while he is a superior run-defender, he still needs to work on his pass-defending ability.

Golden is currently in contact with Blue while I write this article.

A Few More Surprise Pickups

Even though the Hurricanes had a sub-par year last year and NCAA allegations hanging around their heads, it isn't stopping recruits from being interesting in becoming a Hurricane.

Let's just hope a few more surprised come on signing day.

There are over 15 athletes that have Miami on their list of schools they are still interested in, and it would be great for Golden and the school if they could snag a few surprises on Wednesday.

Miami still needs to add depth to the wide receiver, cornerback and defensive line positions.

No One Decommits on Signing Day

Although the Hurricanes have seven recruits already in school at Miami, that still leaves 24 that could switch schools before signing day.

Miami has so many positions that need to be filled that they truly can not afford to lose any recruits.

Al Golden and staff have meticulously picked out every player that could be beneficial to the program and if any of them were to change their minds before Feb. 1, it would be heart-breaking.

The only things I see on message boards are that Reggie Northrup and Tyriq McCord are both still not 100 percent sure on Miami, although they both verbally committed.