The Miami Hurricanes have landed a verbal commitment from blue chip class of 2025 safety Hylton "Drake" Stubbs from Mandarin HS in Jacksonville, FL.
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00:00former USC Trojans commit, decommitted a couple of weeks ago,
00:04reopened his recruitment. It came down to Miami versus the Florida Gators for Hilton Stubbs,
00:10and ultimately Miami was the move for him. Four-star safety out of Mandarin High School
00:15in Jacksonville, Florida. Miami's really extending their footprint across the great
00:20state of Florida. We've got several players from Orlando, got one of those last night for 2026,
00:25players from the Tampa area, players from Jacksonville. Stubbs measures at 6'2", 195 pounds,
00:33and based on recent trends for him, I think he's still growing and developing because he made a
00:39big jump in weight from his sophomore to junior season in high school. He's heading into his
00:44senior season of high school now, so physically he looks like he's going to be a specimen by the
00:49time he arrives at Miami. And Stubbs, I mentioned one of the very top safeties in the country,
00:54he's ranked sixth in the safety class. That's every safety in America 2025, he's the sixth
01:01rated safety according to the 24-7 sports composite rankings. You also have the leadership qualities
01:07with Stubbs, which I think are incredibly important. You see the types of, not only the
01:11types of athletes and players that Mario Cristobal is recruiting, but the types of young men.
01:16He wants leaders, he wants alphas. Stubbs was the captain of his high school team,
01:20Mandarin, last year. I assume he will be a captain again this year. And versatility,
01:27that's another trademark of players that Miami likes to recruit. Stubbs, very strong in coverage,
01:33he's very strong in run support as well. I mentioned previously a commit to the USC Trojans.
01:40When he made his Miami visit back on the weekend of June 21st, Stubbs was still committed to USC
01:46at that time. He decommitted from USC days later and opened things up. But here's what Stubbs
01:51told 24-7 after his visit to Miami. He said, quote, a lot of progress was made with Miami.
01:58I loved everything about the visit. He said, I love the staff. They've got a big shot at me.
02:02No kidding. He says, the staff, I love the staff. They're amazing people to be around,
02:07the coaches, the players toward the staff. When it's just me talking to them,
02:12the players love the staff, he said. So that's important, right? Because when you talk to
02:16coaches, it's like, oh, these coaches sound great. Then you talk to other players. So what
02:20do they really like? And Miami's coaches apparently are the same way behind the scenes,
02:26in practices, as they are when you're recruiting you. Being genuine, being authentic, that's really
02:31important. That was something that Stubbs appreciated about Miami. He says, the coaches
02:35that I'm getting on this official visit are the same that they're going to be every day. That
02:39was his takeaway talking to other Miami players. And here's something important. When you talk
02:45about how Hilton Drake Stubbs is going to fit into Miami's scheme, of course, for safeties,
02:51it's good for players of his position that Miami's defensive coordinator, Lance Guidry,
02:56is essentially the safeties coach. And he comes from a safeties coach background. So
03:00he's definitely going to be spending a lot of time with Mr. Stubbs. And of course,
03:04spending a lot of time with Zaquan Patterson, the other safeties that are currently on Miami's
03:08roster. This is what Stubbs said about Miami's scheme. I can play anything in their scheme.
03:13They do a lot of blitzing. That's one of my strong parts. No kidding. I can cover and I can hit.
03:18I feel like I can cover and I can hit, he said. I feel like I can do anything
03:21in Coach Guidry's defensive scheme.