3-star DL Daylen Russell commits to Miami Hurricanes

Miami (Fla.) Columbus three-star defensive lineman Daylen Russell has committed to Miami and is the latest local recruiting target to join up with ‘The U.’

He chose the Hurricanes over fellow finalists Louisville and Nebraska.

“When I step on campus, I get the feeling that this is a place I could be in the next year,” Russell told CaneSport in April after his visit to Coral Gables. “Other than that, it feels really good being out there.”

The 6-foot-3, 255-pounder is the No. 995 overall prospect in the 2024 class, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He ranks as the nation’s No. 94 defensive lineman and the No. 131 player in the state of Florida.

He was the Miami Herald’s Defensive Player of the Year as a junior after racking up 51 total tackles, including six for loss, and seven sacks in 10 games.

Current Miami players were big part of the recruiting pitch

While head coach Mario Cristobal, defensive line coach Joe Salave’a and defensive ends coach Jason Taylor led the way in recruiting Russell, they had some help from a few current Hurricanes players.

“Bobby and Robby Washington talk to me almost every day, trying to get me to commit,” Russell said. “It makes me feel good hearing that from them because they’re trying to turn things around get Miami back to how it was.”

He continued: “They’re just telling me how they treat the players and how they treat them like family. They also tell me how they take real good care of their players and how the coaches are really understandable if you come with an injury or anything like that. It makes me look at Miami differently after hearing that from players and knowing how well the staff treats them.”

Russell is the ninth commitment in the 2024 class for the Hurricanes, who came into the day with the nation’s No. 26 recruiting class in the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings. Of those nine commits, four hail from the Sunshine State: four-star receiver Chance Robinson, three-star linebacker Vincent Shavers and running back Chris Wheatley-Humphrey.

The Hurricanes are also in the mix for some of the nation’s elite prospects inside the Sunshine State and a few outside of it. Their June 9 official visit weekend is expected to be loaded, with On3 No. 1 overall prospect Dylan Stewart, five-star Georgia CB commit Ellis Robinson, and five-star defensive lineman David Stone among the long list of visitors.

Heading into the summer, the Hurricanes are already trending for one of the nation’s elite defensive linemen and top wide receivers. And they’ll look to close on them and a few more over the course of the coming months.