Four-star cornerback Damari Brown announced his commitment to Miami on Wednesday during the first day of the early signing period. Brown hails from American Heritage High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and chose the Hurricanes over Alabama and Florida State. He also visited Clemson during his recruiting process.
Brown is ranked the No. 18 cornerback and No. 185 overall prospect in the class by 247Sports. His brother Davonte Brown, also a cornerback, announced this week that he is transferring to Miami from UCF after playing in 32 games as a key cog in the Knights’ secondary the past three seasons. Their father, Selwyn Brown, played in the secondary at Miami in the 1980s and was part of the program’s 1987 national championship before a brief NFL playing career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Damari played in a loaded secondary at American Heritage that featured other Power Five talents, including Alabama freshman defensive back Earl Little II. Much like Brown, Little’s father also played for Miami.
Here is a portion of the scouting report on Brown from 247Sports Southeast Recruiting Analyst Andrew Ivins, who noted that Brown “sprouted like a weed” between his junior and senior seasons:
Is rather sound with his technique and has been coached up on how to play full-field, press-man coverage at a high level on Friday nights. Patient feet and looser hips allow him to mirror speedy wide receivers at the line of scrimmage. Does a nice job of gaining depth while in reverse and isn’t afraid to buy time with his hands. Constantly puts himself in position to make plays in the air, but does seem to be more content with batting the ball away instead of taking it away. Has shown a desire to get physical in run support, but will eventually need to figure out how to get college-sized ball carriers to the ground and must get better at fighting off blocks, especially if he’s working on the shot field.
Despite a 5-7 debut for coach Mario Cristobal, the Hurricanes could finish with a top-five class during this recruiting cycle. Landing Brown is particularly significant for the Hurricanes amid the uncertainty now surrounding five-star cornerback Cormani McClain. The Miami commitment and top-ranked cornerback in the class did not sign Wednesday as originally anticipated, and Colorado coach Deion Sanders is among those in pursuit of McClain. Florida is also in the running for McClain.
Should McClain opt to attend Colorado — or anywhere other than Miami — landing Brown makes for an excellent insurance policy. Miami also has a commitment from four-star cornerback Robert Stafford, who signed Wednesday.
