Before Bowman Archibald exploded into a major-college recruit, he came up with a list of criteria for his future school.
On Thursday, the Pasco tight end realized that Miami met all of his needs.
“For what I want to do, what I want to study, what I want to do on the football field, it’s a perfect fit,” Archibald said. “I went ahead and knocked this out.”
Archibald orally committed to the Hurricanes Thursday, ending a short but overwhelming recruiting process.
The 6-foot-6, 240-pound prospect started his freshman and sophomore seasons on the JV team but exploded into one of Tampa Bay’s top prospects as a junior. The three-star talent caught two touchdown passes last fall on offense and had 22 tackles, 2.5 sacks and two fumble recoveries at defensive end.
Although some colleges recruited him as a defensive end/outside linebacker hybrid, Archibald will play tight end for the ‘Canes. Rivals ranks Archibald as the country’s No. 14 tight end; 247Sports puts him 19th.
Archibald said he’s always followed UM, which helped him choose the Hurricanes over Alabama, Auburn, Oregon, Florida and a dozen other schools. He plans to pursue a career in physical therapy and was impressed with Miami’s exercise physiology program.
Oral commitments are non-binding until recruits sign letters of intent during their senior year.