Miami Football: Top 7 Recruiting Targets for the Hurricanes in 2011

With the 2010 college football season in the books, teams are shifting their focus to recruiting and filling the ranks with talent for the 2011 season.  The Miami Hurricanes, having fired their coach, and filling out a new coaching staff, are trying to salvage this recruiting class and finish strong. 

New coach Al Golden has targeted several prospects in the South Florida area that were ignored by Randy Shannon and his staff.  Although we are not sure why these players were not recruited under Randy Shannon, they are being heavily pursued under Al Golden.  Here are the top seven targets the Miami Hurricanes are trying to get into the 2011 class. 

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Some information on player measurables obtained from Rivals.com and Scout.com recruiting websites.

Ray Drew: 4 Star Weakside Defensive End

Thomasville, Georgia
Thomas County Central High School

Height:   6'5"
Weight:  243 lbs
GPA:     2.9

The sky is the limit for this south Georgia phenomenon.

He will most likely see playing time early because of his speed and overall athleticism. He is definitely one of the top players—if not the No. 1 prospect—in Georgia.  He is visiting the Miami Hurricanes campus on the weekend of January 14th, and Al Golden is making a hard push for a commitment. 

Some feel that Drew is only using Miami to get a free South Florida vacation, but the Hurricane coaches feel that they have a legitimate shot at landing him.

Rashad Greene: 4 Star Wide Receiver

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
St. Thomas Aquinas High School

Height:   6'0"
Weight:  175 lbs
40 Yard Dash:  4.42 secs
Shuttle:  4.34
Vertical:  37 inches
GPA:3.5

Miami is hoping to sway the Florida State commitment out of his declaration that he is a Seminole. 

His skill set makes him an excellent kickoff return man and a serious deep threat. Speed kills.

Even though he is not as thick or strong as many would like, he will most likely play as a freshman.  He also comes from one of the powerhouse football programs in the state of Florida, and most players from there seem to come in ready to play at the next level.

Josue Matias: 4 Star Offensive Tackle

Union City, New Jersey
Union City High School

Height:  6'5"
Weight:  290 lbs.
Bench Max:  350

Al Golden initially recruited Matias when he was the head coach at Temple, and at that time Matias did not want to listen.  When Golden took over as the head coach at Miami he started giving the Hurricanes a look, and is taking a visit to Miami while also escaping the snow storm in the Northern part of the country.

Matias lists a top three of Florida State, North Carolina and Rutgers.  Matias says the Canes have "a real chance" with him.  Matias didn't play this past season after tearing his patella tendon. He's received numerous offers based on his performance at summer camps and off his sophomore and junior highlight film. As a junior he averaged over three pancake blocks per game.

Kevin Grooms: 3 Star Athlete

Hollywood, Florida
South Broward High School

Height:  5'10"
Weight:165 lbs

If you take one look at Grooms you almost immediately think of another Hurricanes player named Roscoe Parrish, and they have similar speed and builds.  Grooms received 40 scholarship offers during the recruiting process. 

So now that Grooms has received a verbal Hurricane offer, where does he stand? 

Grooms has not made a final decision on his commitment yet, but he says the Hurricanes are in good shape to land him.  He had 29 total touchdowns this year (six on punt returns, 22 rushing and one receiving).  He has over 3,000 combined rushing yards the last two years, and Grooms also led Broward County in scoring this season. 

Kevin Sousa: 3 Star Dual-Threat Quarterback

Orlando, Florida
Lake Nona High School

Height:  6'2"
Weight:  213 lbs
40 Yard Dash:  4.69 secs
Shuttle:  4.4
GPA:  3.3

Al Golden gave a verbal scholarship offer to Sousa while visiting him at Lake Nona High School in Orlando, Florida.  Sousa threw for over 2200 yards while rushing for over 1000 yards in his senior season at Lake Nona.  Now that Jed Fisch has been named the new offensive coordinator and QB coach, Sousa can seriously start taking a look at the Hurricanes to decide if he wants to de-commit from Wake Forest.

Sousa has the speed, agility, and body type to round into a top flight quarterback and was initially committed to Michigan before Rich Rodriguez was fired.  The Hurricanes are hoping they can steal him away from the Demon Deacons.

Marlin Lane: 4 Star Running Back

Daytona Beach, Florida
Mainland High School

Height:  6'1"
Weight:  205 lbs
Shuttle:  4.24
Vertical:  33 inches

Marlin Lane is one of the most sought after recruits in the country, and has been committed to the Clemson Tigers for a long time, but recently it is being heavily rumored that Lane and the Tigers parted ways. 

Lane visited Miami on the weekend of January 8th, and after that and other things allegedly reported to Clemson coaches they parted ways with the recruit.  Lane looks like he can be an every down running back instead of a specialty player, and coming in weighing 205lbs, he can easily put another 15-20 pounds of muscle on his frame.  This kid has the potential to be a star as long as he can keep his nose clean and stay healthy.

Devin Lucien: 4 Star Wide Receiver

Encino, California
Crespi High School

Height:  6'1"
Weight: 189 lbs
40 Yard Dash:  4.49 secs

Lucien is visiting the Miami Campus on 1/14/2011 and has already received an offer from Hurricanes coach Al Golden.  The prized recruit says he will announce his decision at his high school on January, 30th.  The Hurricanes are currently in his top five, and he says they have a good chance of landing him.

Lucien was strongly leading to going to Michigan and was almost ready to Commit, but when Rich Rodriguez was fired things changed a little bit.  But Michigan's new coach is from San Diego and has a familiarity with Lucien already, and he is open to visiting Michigan and give the new coach a chance to pitch him on the program.  Lucien has always been a Miami fan, and depending on what happens this weekend he may come out as a came commit.