Tyrique Stevenson is coming home. The defense announced on social media on Saturday night that he is moving to Miami after spending the last two years in Georgia. Stevenson, whom 247Sports considered a five-star recruit in the 2019 class, must be eligible to play immediately, assuming, of course, that the NCAA goes through a single transfer rule later this month.
Stevenson has appeared in 24 games in the past two seasons for the Bulldogs. He made four games. One of those games happened last month at the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, when he broke a pass at the end of the fourth period against Cincinnati to preserve a UGA victory.
Miami has been looking to add a veteran cornerback to its list since the team missed a series of high school goals in the weeks leading up to the early hire period. Stevenson played in several places in high school while in Georgia, but is seen by many as a cornerback after receiving many of his photos in the cornerback position in the slot as a second year. He will join a hurricane defense that enters the spring semester with few numbers on the border with currently only five corners of the scholarship on the list.
Stevenson’s decision to choose Miami is not so surprising. After shining as a sophomore and sophomore at Miami Southridge, he won over 25 scholarship offers from schools across the country. The All-American Bowl team ended up taking official visits to Auburn, Florida, Miami and Georgia. Although Tigers and Alligators certainly participated in the recruitment, many felt that Stevenson was favoring Hurricanes and Bulldogs at the end of the process. UGA ended up winning, but some within Stevenson’s camp believe that things would have been different if Stevenson had known that Manny Diaz would return from Temple to replace Mark Richt as UM’s head coach.
As for what Miami is getting at Steveson, he must be seen as a versatile defender who can do a little bit of everything due to his physicality and athletic features. Former 247Sports analyst Charles Powers compared Stevenson leaving high school to current Pittsburgh Steelers defender Minkah Fitzpatrick, noting that Stevenson “, coverage skills, with the ability to manipulate receivers on the line and then turn and run. “
Stevenson is the third notable player that the Hurricanes added to their list this off season through the transfer portal. Miami also guaranteed the services of the Tennessee Edge Rusher Deandre Johnson and broad receiver from Oklahoma Charleston Rambo. Johnson also attended Miami Southridge before preparing for 40 games for Volunteers. Rambo picked up 76 passes for 1,180 yards and nine touchdowns in three seasons with the Sooners.
Diaz has been very successful with players on the transfer portal since taking over from Richt. Last season, Miami started six different players who originally started their careers at another school: the quarterback D’Eriq Kingdefensive end Quincy Rochedefensive end Jaelan Phillipskicker Jose Borregalessafety Bubba Bolden and offensive striker Jarrid Williams.
King was responsible for 30 touchdowns in total and gave UM his most consistent quarterback move in years. Roche and Phillips are designed to be Day 1 or Day 2 choices in the next NFL Draft. Borregales won the Lou Groza Award after connecting in 20 of 22 field goal attempts. Bolden, on the other hand, has decided to return to school for another year after a runaway season and is expected to be one of the best Hurricanes players in 2021. Williams has not indicated what his plans are for the future after anchoring the right side of the Miami line in 2020.
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