American Heritage star wide receiver Brandon Inniss has been committed to Ohio State since June and has given no indication that he is wavering.
Still, Miami Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal is not about to let the local five-star prospect leave South Florida without a fight, pitching his ability to get on the field soon.
“They need me down here,” Inniss said the UM staff tells him. “They need me to stay down here, put on a show for — not even my family — but everybody since I’ve been living down here. They need me to make an impact right away.”
Inniss said he is still hearing from Miami, Alabama and Colorado (with new coach Deion Sanders at the helm), but the standout Patriot said he rebuffs them politely.
“They ask me, ‘Are you 100 percent locked down?'” Innis said. “I say, ‘Yes.’ They still recruit me. I think that’s a testament to their type of coaching style. They won’t give up to get the best guys in the area. It’s good to see that.”
Inniss, who has 66 catches for 1,244 yards and 14 touchdowns this season, said Miami and Alabama both tried to get him to visit this weekend, but he does not plan on making a trip. He and the rest of the loaded Patriots roster faces Miami Central in the Class 2M title game on Friday.
“After five years, it finally hit me — even last week, during the bye week it didn’t really hit me — this is my last high school week of practice,” Inniss said. “They say you’ve got to have every rep like it’s your last. This is my last for high school, so I’m taking it all in.”
Inniss has been a nationally renowned recruit for years, backing off his initial commitment to Oklahoma after Lincoln Riley left for USC. But Inniss is ready to put pen to paper now and head to Ohio State.
“It’s been a long, long, recruiting process,” Inniss said. “But I’m glad it’s done. Glad it’s over and I’m just getting ready to get to work up there and go win the national championship.”
Chaminade’s Joseph still considering Miami
Despite already winning a state championship, Chaminade-Madonna two-way star Edwin Joseph has one last game in his high school career.
The Lions travel to Las Vegas to face Nevada powerhouse Bishop Gorman on Saturday in the GEICO State Champions Bowl Series.
When he gets back from that trip, Joseph will have a big decision to make: What team should he sign with? Joseph said he is focused on FSU, South Carolina, Louisville, Penn State, Michigan and Miami in the waning days of his recruitment.
Joseph said he did not speak to the Miami staff as much for a few weeks, but communication has picked back up recently.
“It’s been great,” Joseph said. “It kind of went down a little bit the past three, four weeks, but I’ve been grinding for this playoff run, so I respect them for (allowing) me to go out there and practice and all that. It went down and it’s going right back up, calling coach (Demarcus) Van Dyke, coach Cristobal. Coach Cristobal usually reaches out to me every morning, so it’s been great.”
Joseph is a two-way player, spending time at wide receiver and cornerback. On offense, he has 40 catches for 661 yards and eight touchdowns. On defense, Joseph has 19 tackles and two interceptions. He is rated a three-star prospect in 247Sports’ composite ranking, and he is listed as the No. 29 athlete in the 2023 class.
Joseph said he may try to squeeze in visits to Louisville and Miami before the Early Signing Period begins Wednesday. He visited Florida State over the weekend and said he enjoyed the trip.
“It was great,” Joseph said. “I really felt like home away from home over there. I was treated like a priority the whole weekend, no matter what time I got there, what time it was. It was a great visit. I really loved it, and I loved everything about it.”
