ANALYSIS: High schools where Miami Hurricanes need to have major presence in 2026 recruiting

With Miami’s high school recruiting focus now fully on the 2026 cycle, it’s time to take a look at which schools we think the Hurricanes need to have a presence at over the next 12 months.

In no particular order, here are six schools Miami needs to have a recruiting presence at in the 2026 cycle. For the sake of this exercise, we’re only looking at high schools currently expected to have two or more Miami recruiting targets in this year’s class (so a local established powerhouse and Hurricanes pipeline school like Miami Central, who currently has one Miami target in three-star linebacker Karon Maycock, will be left off for now). We’re also referring to schools based on their rosters at the end of the 2024 season and recognize it’s possible for players to switch schools this spring or summer. It’s also possible Miami eventually begins recruiting other players on high school teams later in the cycle the Hurricanes haven’t yet shown meaningful interest in.

We’ll leave IMG Academy off the list for now since it isn’t a traditional high school, although the Hurricanes have several targets at IMG in four-star offensive tackle Keenyi Pepe, four-star EDGE Jake Kreul and four-star interior offensive linemen G’Nivre Carr and Breck Kolojay.

Miami (Fla.) Northwestern
+++ Da West proved it undoubtedly has championship-level talent during its state title run this fall, although no two prospects should be bigger local targets for the Hurricanes than top-70 cornerback and superstar return specialist J’Vari Flowers and top-20 receiver Calvin Russell, whose mother played basketball at Miami in the early 2000s. Flowers is probably the best return man in the country’s 2026 class after recording an incredible seven (yes, SEVEN!!) total kick and punt return touchdowns last fall and 10 total touchdowns against a strong South Florida schedule. Flowers is also arguably the fastest recruit in South Florida this cycle and won the state 100M dash with a 10.5-second sprint. He finished second at the track and field state championships with a 20.91 second run in the 200M.

Russell, meanwhile, is one of the freakier athletes in the 2026 class at 6-foot-5.5, 190 pounds and a consensus top-65 product. He looks like a slightly more athletic and currently slightly more polished version of top-50 Miami 2025 signee Joshua Moore, one of the staff’s favorites in last year’s class.

Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade-Madonna
+++ Chaminade has produced at least two Miami signees in each of the last two recruiting classes. That could absolutely continue in 2026.

No. 2 running back Derrek Cooper and four-star On300 linebacker Bryant Junius are both high on the Hurricanes as the new year begins. Cooper is being recruited as an athlete and could conceivably play running back, linebacker or safety at the college level, all of which he’s played in college, while Junius has been best as an outside linebacker in high school. It’s also possible additional Chaminade-Madonna prospects emerge for Miami as junior film evaluations continue.

Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage
+++ American Heritage has been another longstanding Miami pipeline program and one of South Florida’s longest-standing powerhouses. Four-star receiver Brandon Bennett is one of the Hurricanes’ early targets in this year’s class while four-star safety Aldarius Johnson Jr. is the son of former Miami receiver Aldarius Johnson, who played for Randy Shannon in Coral Gables. Bennett is one of Miami’s early receiver priorities.

Jacksonville (Fla.) The Bolles School
+++ We typically don’t talk about Bolles much, but this year, the Jacksonville high school has two major national recruits the Hurricanes have shown significant early interest in. Top-100 receiver Naeem Burroughs and top-100 safety Simeon Caldwell (being recruited at linebacker) have both received plenty of interest early on, although both will have a long way to go in their recruitments. Miami looks like a player for both.

Tampa (Fla.) Tampa Bay Tech
+++ Four-star running back Javari Barnett and four-star interior offensive lineman Canon Pickett both received significant efforts from the Hurricanes this fall and could return to Miami this spring. I’ve already entered a RPM for Miami to land Pickett, the son of former Hurricane Booker Pickett and younger brother of current Miami EDGE Booker Pickett Jr. Barnett has been in contact with running backs coach Matt Merritt since he arrived at Miami last spring.