Up to this point it’d been reported by the local and national media, as well as discussed ad nauseam on message boards, but the University of Miami has finally made the news official and the Hurricanes have two new defensive lineman on board.
David Gilbert and Justin Renfrow have each signed their papers and have one year of eligibility remaining, which will be played out at Miami.
Gilbert spent his previous years playing for the Wisconsin Badgers and was an All-Big Ten selection, though plagued by foot injuries throughout his career, while Renfrow heads to Coral Gables after spending his playing years at the University of Virginia.
Gilbert was four-star prospect when coming out of Oakland Park, Florida in 2009 and Renfrow was a three-star talent out of Morristown, Pennsylvania the same year. Though injury-plagued, Gilbert put together a solid couple of years with the Badgers while Renfow was used sparingly with the Cavaliers.
Still, both will bring experience as well as man-sized upperclassmen builds and physiques to UM. Gilbert is measuring 6-foot-4 and weighing in at 250 pounds while Renfrow is 6-foot-6 and tipping the scales at 310.
An *official* Welcome To The U for both Gilbert and Renfrow. Now get busy as that defensive line needs your depth and you only have one year to make your mark, gents.
IN OTHER NEWS : JUCO signee Ufomba Kamalu has also joined and has been cleared. Kamalu signed with Miami back in February, having played some ball at Butler Community college in Kansas. The focus of this piece was two transfers who had played some Division-I ball and had size and experience. Kamalu will also join the defensive line, officially, and enters the program as a junior.
I love the fact that we’re finally going after and getting bigger front seven guys – or at least we’re getting the guys with the right frames who will put on good weight in the U Tough program and become the right size. I was dying seeing the BCs, VTech and even UVA guys push our fast but undersized players around. Those are teams we should be owning. Those are the teams who usually don’t beat themselves but are really middle of the road programs (VTech can be considered above average). For the past several years we’ve been slow to adjust to the size game that has been going on in college ball, still relying on the old ways of speed over size and strength. I’m not saying speed isn’t still needed, but I just love that Golden is finally getting some big dudes in here: LBs about 6’3″ 235-240, DEs 6’4″-6’6″ 240-270. That type of build is what we’ve been missing. We’ve had guys with the game and effort but not the size to get the job done. Gone are the days of 205-210 pound backers and 230 pound ends. Golden is now getting those bigger players in here and I think that will start to make a difference. We won’t get pushed around anymore and just out-physicalled. There have been too many bad losses to mediocre teams and I think the physical aspect has been one of the main culprits. The 2014 and 2015 classes will get us back to having the depth that we need to be have. Golden and staff are getting this thing fixed.