Miami Football: Hurricanes Offer Scholarships to Three 8th Grade Recruits

With Miami already having 20 commitments in the 2016 cycle, Al Golden and his staff have already began to get a jump on scouting talent in future classes.

While most schools have already identified top prospects in the 2017 class, and perhaps even 2018 classes, the Hurricanes are taking it a step further.

Earlier this week, Golden put out three offers to players who will enter their freshmen year of high school this fall, according to ESPN’s Gerry Hamilton.

Two 2019 running backs in James Cook—whose brother Dalvin is a star rusher at Florida State—and Kenny McIntosh are homegrown standouts, while linebacker Owen Pappoe hails from the metro Atlanta area.

The acceleration of the recruiting process is undoubtedly a hot-button topic, especially in dealing with players who have yet to enter the prep level.

With that said, Miami isn’t the only program who is scouting phenoms in middle school.

Last August, both Florida State and Ohio State offered 2019 athlete Peter Hayes-Patrick—the younger brother of 2015 FSU early enrollee and stud running back Jacques Patrick.

USC made waves back in 2010 when they offered and accepted a commitment from 2015 quarterback David Sills—who ended up decommitting from the Trojans last summer and became an early enrollee at West Virginia.

Despite the jeers that come with such offers, it’s hard to blame Miami or any other schools, given the circumstances.

Cook and McIntosh have both established themselves as rising talents in the South Florida area—which is heavily recruited by schools across the country. Given a large portion of the ‘Canes No. 2 class is from local products, it makes sense Miami would be one of the first schools to identify the top young players in its backyard.

In the case of Pappoe, the ‘Canes joined the likes of Boston College and Tennessee in tendering the 6’1”, 194-pounder out of Grayson High School in Loganville, Georgia—a prep powerhouse that has produced a number of stud recruits in recent years, including current Ole Miss defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche.

It’s simply the cost of doing business in recruiting, and there’s plenty of incentive in establishing a strong relationship with players who could develop into future stars.

For Miami, getting its foot in the door with three promising prospects is a great way to lay the foundation for the 2019 cycle.

In the cases of Cook, McIntosh and Pappoe, it’s simply an introduction of what’s to come over the next four years in the recruiting process.

Sanjay Kirpalani is a National Recruiting Analyst for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.