Miami recruits top sophomore for class of 2007

[Brad]

UM Basketball: Staying at home: Rios commits to Canes  

May 3, 2005

   

 

University of Miami men's basketball coach Frank Haith didn't have to go far to land the most talked-about recruit of his young Hurricanes career. Miami High sophomore point guard Edwin Rios, the Most Valuable Player in the state tournament and a projected Top 10 recruit in 2007, orally committed to UM on Monday.

He was scheduled to take unofficial visits to Duke and N.C. State in the coming weeks, and was being wooed by Louisville, Florida and Cincinnati, but Rios said his heart belonged to UM all along.

"I just couldn't picture myself in another uniform," said Rios, who averaged 24.3 points and is considered the best sophomore in the state. "It was exciting to have Duke visit me at Miami High, and to get calls from some of the most famous coaches in America, but UM is where I want to be. I really like Coach Haith, really like where the program is going, and it's home for me."

Rios' father, Edwin Sr., said it is a relief to have the decision behind them.

''Some people will say we committed too early, but we're honest people, and we want our son to be where he wants to be, and that's Miami,'' Edwin Sr. said. ``Like any parent, I was a little caught up in the Krzyzewskis, Pitinos, Caliparis, and [former N.C. State player] Chris Corchiani had a very nice conversation with us, but my son's heart is here, with Frank Haith and UM, and I'm very happy with his decision.''

THE REAL DEAL

When Haith took the UM job last April, one of his first orders of business was to learn more about Rios. He heard this freshman point guard at Miami High was the real deal, and he wanted to find out for himself. The Rios family was equally curious about Haith, a first-time head coach.

''Coach Haith made it clear very early on that a scholarship was being saved for Eddie, but we wanted to wait and weigh our options,'' Rios Sr. said. ``Coach Haith went on to become a Coach of the Year candidate, and Eddie became all-state, so it was the perfect match. He'll be playing at home, at an ACC school, under a great coach and a great guy.''

A HUGE COUP

Haith is prohibited by NCAA rules from discussing Rios until he signs a letter of intent. But the signing of Rios is considered a huge coup, and further proof Haith is committed to keeping local talent home. He already signed locals Denis Clemente, Brian Asbury and Adrian Thomas.

''I think this is incredible for UM, great for Miami High and great for our community that Frank Haith is keeping a player of this caliber home,'' Miami High coach Marcus Carreño said. ``Eddie is a true-blue UM fan, has always worn UM colors, so it was always in his heart to go to UM. He wanted to see what Coach Haith was like and how the program would be under him, and he was very impressed.

``Cincinnati, N.C. State and Duke were all involved lately, but in his heart, as long as things were good at UM, he was staying home.''

Link

---

We're going to need to start getting to these guys in preschool.

Is Brian Asbury any relation to Chonsey Asbury??

[Hoops_McKnight]

We both might have to begin offering scholarships at conception!

As you probably heard, Nick Calathes (a SO at Lake Howell) committed to UF last week after an AAU tournament in Texas - good kid, great player.  I know other kids on that team, and at least 2 other SO members on that team received offers from ACC, SEC and BE schools that weekend, too.  It's becoming crazy!!

BTW, both Kirk and McCallum (sp) were at that tournament, too...

[Velcro]

McCullum

MacCallum actually is a coach's name too, he is the ex-Houston coach.