Top-75 EDGE Marquise Lightfoot commits to Miami, becomes Hurricanes highest-ranked 2024 recruit yet

Six months ago, Chicago (Ill.) Kenwood Academy four-star EDGE Marquise Lightfoot was a midwestern three-star prospect whose recruitment was finally picking up steam as Miami offered him. Today, he’s the No. 71 prospect in the 2024 class, the No. 5 EDGE and the Hurricanes’ highest-ranked commit yet.

Lightfoot announced his decision to commit to Miami Monday afternoon, choosing the Hurricanes over Ohio State, USC and Illinois, the first two of which also received official visits. Miami earned his last summer official visit June 23, and he only needed to see Coral Gables twice before he made his decision.

“Going into my recruiting process, I was really focusing on three main things: how I’m going to be developed, how much of a priority I am and how I’m going to live my life for the next three-to-four years,” Lightfoot said. “That was the difference with Miami. Miami separated itself. It was the comfort, the people, the coaching staff. It’s like a real family. Throughout the time I spent on these visits, you don’t see that at any other school, and that’s the difference. That’s what made them really separate.”

The 6-foot-5, 220-pound EDGE was marked as one of Miami’s priority targets after receiving his Hurricanes offer, and co-defensive line coach Jason Taylor wasted little time developing a relationship with one of the fastest-rising recruits in the 2024 cycle. Miami quickly became a serious contender, and Lightfoot raved about the Hurricanes following his unofficial trip to Coral Gables April 5 and his official visit June 23.

Taylor played a massive role in Lightfoot’s interest in the Hurricanes. Lightfoot said Taylor showed him moves and techniques he tried out at prospect camps, and after immediately seeing their effectiveness, he found another level of respect for the Hall-of-Famer.

“Jason Taylor basically played the position I’m getting ready to be, which is a stand-up defensive end,” Lightfoot said. “He taught me some things I could use later, and he proved to me that his coaching and his experience as a player, it showed he has a lot going for him.”

Lightfoot made CaneSport’s list of priority targets after Miami climbed the most with him during June’s official visits. The Hurricanes were in tremendous shape following his last trip to South Florida June 23. He told CaneSport his official visit “was perfect” less than a week after he said Miami was “somewhere I want to end up” thanks in large part to the city, coaching staff and facility.

USC was also a strong contender and became a serious threat after his June 18 official visit to Los Angeles, and Lightfoot said multiple times he wanted to end up at a university in a major city with plenty to do. He narrowed his list down to Miami, USC, Ohio State and Illinois in late June before he announced his decision July 3.

But he told CaneSport that he effectively knew he wanted to commit to the Hurricanes after his Miami official visit.

“I got the gist of it on my first unofficial visit, but when I went there on my official, they just took the cake,” Lightfoot said. “When I went there, I kind of had an idea of what I was doing, because I kind of had an idea of where I wanted to go after all of my unofficial visits. (The official visits) were really just making sure.”

Lightfoot’s commitment gives the Hurricanes 15 commits in this year’s class, four four-star recruits and two top-100 prospects (Lightfoot and four-star running back Kevin Riley). Miami is expected to sign 22-25 players in this class.

Lightfoot is still willing to visit and communicate with other schools until the December signing day, but he made clear his intent to be a Hurricane.

“The connection between the coaches, the players and the people there, it just felt right as soon as I walked into the building,” Lightfoot said. “It was just a place I wanted to be; somewhere I wanted to build a name at.”

CaneSport’s Take

Lightfoot’s commitment gives the Hurricanes one of the elite defensive linemen they’ve been chasing in a class expected to be built around the defensive front. Miami is banking on signing far more EDGEs and defensive linemen, but landing Lightfoot — and beating out Ohio State and USC for him — was the major recruiting win the Hurricanes needed to kick off what they hope will be a strong month.