Star 2014 RB recruit Joseph Yearby flips commitment to Miami from FSU
Miami Hurricanes head coach Al Golden arrives at the Sun Life Stadium before a game between the North Carolina Tar Heels. (Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports)
On Tuesday, coach Al Golden and Miami officially flipped the commitment of elite running back recruit Joseph Yearby, according to SB Nation.
Yearby, a 5-foot-9, 190-pound star out of Miami (Fla.) Central High, had been verbally committed to Florida State since late summer of 2012. However, verbal commitments are nonbinding, and have grown increasingly less significant as recruits make their initial decisions years before actually graduating from high school.
He is currently rated as a four-star recruit by Rivals, 247Sports and Scout. ESPN has yet to release their individual 2014 ratings, but he is on their Watch List; such a listing generally translates to a top 300 rating nationally.
As for the Canes, Yearby’s commitment is the team’s fourth for the 2014 recruiting cycle. The program remains under the black cloud of potential NCAA sanctions, but president Donna Shalala is fighting the NCAA tooth-and-nail.
The school’s aggressive reaction to the NCAA is definitely making it easier to draw recruits to Coral Gables. Golden himself admitted that every recruit’s family he meets with asks him about the investigation.
Combine the fact that the aforementioned investigation may be coming to an end with new offensive coordinator James Coley, and The U is starting to pack a recruiting punch once again. Coley left Florida State to take the same job with the Hurricanes. He is seen in college circles as an excellent recruiter, with close ties to the all-important recruiting hotbed of South Florida.
His hiring likely played a large part in the flip of Yearby from FSU to Miami.
Whatever the case, the fact of the matter is Miami is on track to bring one of the nation’s best to campus next year, while Jimbo Fisher and Florida State have been forced to look elsewhere.
