Not every standout college football player was considered a can’t miss recruit out of high school.
Not every standout college football player was considered a can’t miss recruit out of high school.
It seems like for every five- or four-star recruit, there’s a relatively no-name player who grows into a star.
Just look at the two starting quarterbacks in the College Football Playoff Championship Game. Miami’s Carson Beck was a four-star recruit and the No. 9 pro-style quarterback in the 2020 class; Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza was the No. 140 quarterback and the No. 288 recruit in Florida in the 2022 class.
Miami’s roster construction is the same.
Francis Mauigoa, Rueben Bain and Mark Fletcher were all top recruits, but other starters were unheralded as recruits. Here are four Hurricanes who either went under the radar or were underrated during the recruiting process.
DL Ahmad Moten Sr. (2022)
247Sports composite ranking: 3-star recruit, No. 80 defensive lineman, No. 72 recruit in Florida, No. 558 recruit in the nation
2025: 26 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks pass breakups, 4 quarterback hurries, second-team All-ACC selection
Moten, the younger brother of former Hurricanes defensive lineman Anthony Moten, was a relative unknown until he dominated during the first half of his senior year, which was his first season at Cardinal Gibbons. That’s when colleges started taking notice. Iowa State was the first to offer, quickly followed by Maryland, West Virginia and Indiana. His recruitment hit another level just before the early signing period as Florida, Oregon, Tennessee, Georgia Tech, LSU, Miami and Oklahoma offered. Moten signed with Miami on National Signing Day in February.
IOL Matthew McCoy (2022)
247Sports composite ranking: 3-star recruit, No. 62 offensive tackle, No. 102 recruit in Florida, No. 735 recruit in the nation
2025: Started 14 games
McCoy went completely under the radar for the first three-plus year of his high school career, which is strange considering his older brother Luther played at Minnesota. A consensus three-star recruit at Creekside, McCoy didn’t get his first offer until Sept. 20, 2021. Both Miami and Florida, which hired new coaching staffs that offseason, pursued McCoy heavily heading into the February signing period and he signed with the Canes.
CB OJ Frederique Jr. (2024)
247Sports composite ranking: 3-star recruit, No. 67 cornerback, No. 109 recruit in Florida, No. 784 recruit in the nation
2025: 17 tackles, 5 pass breakups in 9 games
Simply put, Frederique’s impact at Miami doesn’t match his recruitment. The St. Thomas Aquinas graduate became an immediate starter for the Hurricanes and was a Freshman All-American. His recruitment? Well, it wasn’t exactly commensurate with a Power 4 impact player. The only other Power 4 programs to offer Frederique were Florida State, Houston, UCF and West Virginia. He committed to the Hurricanes the summer before his senior year.
IOL Anez Cooper (2022)
247Sports composite ranking: 3-star recruit, No. 109 offensive tackle, No. 47 recruit in Alabama, No. 1,149 recruit in the nation
2025: Started all 15 games, second team All-ACC selection
Cooper had an interesting recruitment while playing at Pleasant Grove (Alabama). South Carolina, Georgia Tech and FAU were among the first to offer the summer between his sophomore and junior seasons. Georgia, Auburn and Syracuse also offered, but it doesn’t appear that he was priority for anyone before Miami came calling days before the February signing period. Miami offered on Jan. 21, 2022, Mario Cristobal visited Cooper three days later and he signed on Feb. 2.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Hurricanes: 4 unheralded recruits who developed into stars
Category: General Sports
