Blustein: "This Wasn't a Defining Year Locally" for Miami Hurricanes Recruiting
There's no better man to hear from on National Signing Day than SFHS Sports Senior Analyst Larry Blustein. South Florida's premier high school football expert joined The Joe Rose Show this morning to talk about some special kids the Hurricanes landed but also expressed some disappointment with how many talented local players they're losing out on.
"This wasn't a defining year locally for [Miami]," Blustein said. "If you're 6-7 that's just the way it is. You put yourself in that hole and now you have to do extra recruiting to get yourself out. So I mean nobody put Miami in the 6-7 hole, they put themselves in it and that's the whole thing so now you have to find creative ways to get these kids back.
"And sure they want to be a part of it. You don't know how many kids' first instinct is Miami in South Florida -- a lot of them -- but you know what, Joe, you put yourself in a position where you were and all of the sudden Cal and all these other schools come looking at you. I mean you'll look at the school that has the better record and schools that are going to get more exposure. At the end of the day, listen, Miami's putting how many kids in the NFL this year? That would be my number one thing -- listen, we're improving, we're getting better, but we're also putting seven kids in the NFL this year, and nobody else can match that but FSU and Alabama."
Among the kids Miami landed, Blustein raved about Mark Walton, a standout running back signee out of high school football power Booker T Washington.
"He's got a little bit of Duke Johnson in him," Blustein said. "He's got a little bit of Clinton Portis, he's a bigger back.
"Mark Walton is a complete back, he'll block for you, he'll sacrifice a lot of his body so that's what they need. You get him along with Joe Yearby, who's still a freak of nature, and Gus Edwards, and you've got three of the best backs in the country in one backfield."
Join Larry and the rest of the South Florida High School Sports crew tonight at 6 pm at Bokamper's in Miramar for an epic National Signing Day party.
