The latest on Miami recruiting with more five-star players set to announce this weekend

The Miami Hurricanes’ incredible recruiting stretch hit a new peak Monday when they landed an oral commitment from Francis Mauigoa.

Now, they’re staring at the possibility of adding even more five-star talent this weekend.

Gulliver Prep receiver Jalen Brown and Bradenton IMG Academy edge rusher Jayden Wayne — both five-star prospects — are set to make their commitments Friday and Saturday, respectively, and Miami is a finalist for both.

There’s still internal optimism the Hurricanes will be able to add at least one, even if the chances of going 2 for 2 aren’t quite as good as they seemed a few weeks ago.

Jalen Brown, 5-star WR, Gulliver Prep

In Pinecrest, Gulliver is less than three miles from Miami’s campus and it has made it easy for Brown to be a fixture in Coral Gables all throughout his recruitment.

Already this year, the 6-foot-1, 170-pound receiver has been on campus at least nine times for unofficial visits, although he never pulled the trigger with an oral commitment, even though the Hurricanes always felt good about where they stood in his recruitment. For a long time, they fully expected him to, at some point, join Miami’s Class of 2023.

A late-June official visit with the LSU Tigers, however, has seemingly made the Southeastern Conference program the favorite, at least according to 247Sports’ Crystal Ball.

The Florida State Seminoles and Michigan Wolverines are two other contenders. He’ll make his announcement Friday at 6 p.m. on his Instagram.

“It was pretty much talking to my parents and doing research,” Brown said, “pretty much talking building that trust with coaches and talking to my family, and figuring out what’s going to be the best spot for me. And we feel like we’ve found it.”

Brown took official visits to LSU and Michigan in the final two weeks. He was deeply familiar with the Wolverines because of multiple previous visits, but the Tigers emerged as a real contender later in the process, after coach Brian Kelly arrived from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish last year.

LSU was actually the second team to offer Brown a scholarship — behind only the Hurricanes — and the Tigers are using their track record of putting wideouts into the NFL to try to lure Brown to Louisiana.

“Baton Rouge is a great place, great history, great tradition at the receiver position, lots of success at the receiver position throughout all the coaches that they’ve had,” Brown said.

Miami is working on hometown appeal, but also trying to use some of its recruiting momentum to make another five-star pickup.

Brown is particularly close with elite quarterback Jaden Rashada — they play 7-on-7 together with Miami Immortals — and he has been trying to get Brown to join him ever since he orally committed last month.

“Miami’s always been a home team, growing up watching them playing, and going and watching the games has been amazing,” Brown said. “Jaden and the recruits have been basically just asking me to stay home, and bring back Miami to how it was in the early 2000s, make the city come alive again.”

Jayden Wayne, 5-star DE/LB, Bradenton IMG Academy

With the Hurricanes trending in the wrong direction for Brown, Wayne is probably the best bet at a five-star addition for Miami this weekend. He’ll play with Mauigoa at IMG Academy next year and, as a native of Washington, has a long-standing relationship with Mario Cristobal from the coach’s time with the Oregon Ducks.

The Hurricanes feel very good about where they stand with the 6-5, 245-pound defensive end as they go into the weekend.

Wayne will make his announcement at 1 p.m. on Saturday on CBS Sports HQ. The Michigan State Spartans, Georgia Bulldogs, Alabama Crimson Tide, LSU and Oregon round out his top six. Miami hosted the elite defensive lineman for his final official visit of June, although he still has an official visits left to use later this summer or in the fall if he wants, giving him some flexibility to back off a decision.

Brown, for what it’s worth, has three official visits left to use and hasn’t taken one with the Hurricanes. Miami will keep recruiting him no matter what Brown decides Friday.

Some more weekend commitments to watch

The Hurricanes are also finalists for three other recruits set to make commitments this weekend, including a pair of blue-chip defenders.

Collins Acheampong, a four-star athlete from California, is one to keep an eye on for Miami. The 6-foot-7 Ghanian was originally supposed to make a commitment last Friday and the Hurricanes were trending in the right direction at the time after hosting him for his final official visit in June. After a one-week delay, Acheampong — who will play his senior season at Santa Margarita in Rancho Santa Margarita, California — is set to make an announcement at 3 p.m. on Friday.

Acheampong projects as a defensive end at the next level — it’s where he lined up as a freshman, the last time he played football — and is the No. 269 player in the 247 composite rankings for the Class of 2023. The Hurricanes are again battling the Tigers, as well as the UCLA Bruins and Michigan.

Four-star cornerback Jaylon Braxton and three-star tackle Logan Howland are two others to monitor as they make commitments Saturday. Both took official visits to Miami in June, although other schools are viewed as the favorites in their recruitments, according to the Crystal Ball.