Miami MBB Recruiting Notes: August Update

Miami’s men’s basketball does not have any commits in its 2024 recruiting class, but the Hurricanes are in the mix for several highly touted players, including multiple five-star prospects.

Here’s the latest on where UM stands with some of its top targets:

*all star-ratings are according to the On3 Sports Industry Ranking

Jalil Bethea

The explosive five-star guard recently added Miami to his top five schools list, which also includes Kansas, Syracuse, Villanova (campus is within a 30-minute drive from Bethea’s hometown) and Alabama.

Bethea is set to take an official visit to Miami on Sept. 8. He also has official visits scheduled to the other four programs on his top-five list, with the first of those visits being to Villanova on Aug. 25-27.

Bethea is regarded as one of the top perimeter scorers in this recruiting cycle. He ranked 10th among all Nike EYBL players with 18.6 points per game and helped lead Team Final to a 16-1 EYBL regular-season record.

Ryan Jones Jr.

Miami offered Jones, a 6-foot-8 stretch forward, on June 26. Since then, UM has emerged as a contender in his recruitment, landing a spot on Jones’ top-eight schools list and locking down an official visit with him for Oct. 20.

Florida is a school to monitor for Jones, who attends Gainsville-based The Rock School (Fla.).

Nicolas Codie

Like Jones, Codie is a player that Miami recently offered. The 6-foot-8, four-star forward had an excellent season on the 3SSB Circuit with Southern Assault, and in addition to UM, he’s also picked up offers this summer from schools like Kansas, Texas, Auburn and Alabama.

Codie will take an official visit to Miami on Oct. 6, which is one of the several visits he’ll be taking to different colleges this fall. UM also made Codei’s top-seven schools list, which he released on July 25.

Austin Swartz

Swartz is one of the fastest-growing risers in the class of 2024 after an electric EYBL season with Boo Williams. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard ranked third among all scorers, averaging 21 points per game throughout the multiple sessions. He was also named to the EYBL Regular Season Second Team. 

Miami was included in Swartz’ top-eight schools list, and he’ll make the trip down to Coral Gables for an official visit on Aug. 25.

Rakease Passmore

The uber-athletic 6-foot-5 wing picked up an offer from Miami in March and told LifeWallet Sports in April that the Hurricanes were one of the college basketball teams he grew up watching.

“I definitely feel good, growing up in Florida, Miami was always a school I watched. It was definitely a school I definitely wanted [to receive an offer from],” Passmore said.

Passmore played for Team Thad during the EYBL Peach Jam tournament and also took part in the renowned Pangos All-American Camp and NBPA Top 100 Camp this past summer.

Passmore is set to take an official to Miami on Sept. 15. He also scheduled official visits this fall to Wake Forest, Mississippi State, LSU and Arkansas.

Other Notes:

• The following players also have official visits to Miami scheduled for this fall: four-star shooting guard Gicarri Harris (Sept. 1), three-star forward Isaiah Johnson-Arigu (Sept. 15) and four-star forward Khani Rooths (Sept. 28).
• 2024 three-star point guard Adam Njie Jr. told LifeWallet Sports last Thursday that Miami has been one of the schools reaching out to him since he de-committed from Washington State on Aug. 6. The Hurricanes were included on his initial top-five schools list in May.
• Miami was also recently included in the following players’ top schools list: five-star wing V.J. Edgecombe, four-star wing Billy Richmond, three-star forward Malcom Thomas.