Latest at The U…

Stole the above pic from someone’s avatar on a message board. Liked the shot of some of the Northwestern kids, as well as the positive message about Miami being in their way “back” after living the past few years on the decline. It’s time to get excited again, people. The Canes are ‘baby stepping’ their way back to prominence. Get on board. As for what’s going on at The U this past week…

Before we get all jacked up with spring ball and recent recruiting news, another huge dose of props for this Miami Basketball team. The Canes are now riding a four-game win streak, all against solid conference foes – Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Duke and Maryland – and four games remain; Clemson, Virginia, Boston College and Florida State.

A few more wins are necessary for an NCAA berth and the action starts tonight against a feisty Clemson team looking for revenge after a late game collapse against Miami a few weeks back.

Definitely an interesting storyline as many wrote off these Canes a few weeks back after a midseason skid. Frank Haith has done a good job getting his kids refocused and rededicated. Tonight will be a feat and the streak has to end sometime, but Miami is only a few wins away from most likely making the dance.

Note for the out of towners, the Boston College game on March 5th will be carried nationally by ESPN U at 7pm ET.

Miami Baseball got off to a good start, sweeping Cincinnati opening weekend. The Canes are still #2 in the Rivals.com poll but only #9 in the Baseball America standings. A meaningless exhibition loss to the Florida Marlins this week will prove as a tune up for the visiting Florida Gators this weekend. Still feels too early to get fired up for college baseball, but a showdown with UiF always gets the juices flowing.

On the recruiting front, some big names are headed to The U… in 2009. A #1, #3 or #4 recruiting class in ’08, depending on which site you follow – Randy Shannon is already thinking next year.

Bryce Brown ended all the chit-chat, committing last week and following big brother Arthur Brown to Miami. The younger Brown is a five-star running back out of Wichita, KS who will immediately bolster a good but not great Miami ground game. The Canes also got recent commitments out of A.J. Highsmith – son of Alonzo – and Arizona tight end Billy Sanders.

You don’t really want to get too excited about kids committing almost a year in advance, but all three recent verbals give you reason to believe. Brown wanted to end the recruiting game and get his commitment out of the way so he can focus on his senior season. Big brother was led to Miami and B.B. based his decision and his faith. The Brown family handled the recruiting process with class and it’d be a shock if the younger Brown wound up anywhere other than Miami.

The younger Highsmith grew up a diehard Cane and wanted to ink his commitment as well. He didn’t talk the talk and fail to walk the walk like some other second generation Canes. Dad was a star at The U, son felt that some bond and wanted to make it official.

Regarding Sanders, we don’t know much about him yet, but you do have to like a recent quote after his verbal to The U — “I’m committed and I’m not taking any other visits. That’s what `committed’ means.”

Spring ball is officially a few days underway and the attitude already sounds different. No disrespect to some recent Canes, but there are some guys whose names I was sick of hearing entering another year. Guys on scholarship who weren’t carrying their weight, promised to come back stronger, faster, better a year later – but come fall, it was the same disappointing result on the field.

The past few years have been so Groundhog Day-esque that it’s hard not to get excited just at the premise of watching the young talent develop and finally take the field. Be it the Northwestern kids who came in this year or last year’s freshmen like Robert Marve, Jermaine McKenzie and Leonard Hankerson finally getting to strut their stuff.

I can’t attend practice out here on the left coast, but I’m getting my news sent back to be from my media buds and other locals who are in the know. Hankerson and freshman Aldarius Johnson were the big names today and we’re seeing yards after catches – which hasn’t been a staple of any Miami offense since 2003.

The attitude is upbeat for real this time. Not a fabricated excitement from a bunch of retreads coming off a rough season. This is youthful exuberance. Kids who are truly hungry to play football for the University of Miami. Kids from winning high school programs who are picking up where they left off and continuing with their winning ways.

Camaraderie and excitement seem to be the name of the game right now. This team has a loooong way to regarding getting back to the top, but we’re seeing steps in the right direction and there’s reason to be excited.

For the Damien Berry enthusiasts out there, the fiery safety has changed his number from #38 to #20. Not comparing Berry to the next Ed Reed, but year one on special teams he proved he was a hard hitter, a competitor and had that fire in the belly. On one level, it’s just a number… but asking to wear the number sported by an all time great Miami safety? It goes right in line with the type of player many think Berry will become at The U.

Looking for more ink and reason to get excited, check out some stuff from Herald.com come this week. Kudos to the folks over there and all their coverage. Manny Navarro has gotten really in depth with his coverage of spring ball while Susan Miller Degnan had a nice write up about the first practice, the speed and tempo. Check it out.

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