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BREAKING: Coveted local LB Ezekiel Marcelin commits to Miami

Stephen Wagner covers recruiting for the University of Miami for On3 Sports and CaneSport. He can be found on Twitter at @stephenwag22 and reached at Stephen.Wagner@On3.com.by: Stephen Wagner06/23/24stephenwagOn3
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Linebacker Ezekiel Marcelin from Miami visited Penn State and earned an offer while in town this past weekend. (Credit: Ryan Snyder/Blue White Illustrated)

Miami (Fla.) Central three-star linebacker Ezekiel Marcelin has committed to the Hurricanes to become the 11th pledge in Miami’s 2025 recruiting class, the 5-foot-11, 210-pound prospect announced on Sunday afternoon.

Marcelin, the No. 453 overall prospect in the On3 Industry Ranking and No. 44 linebacker in the cycle, has been one of the Hurricanes top linebacker targets this class and has been intensely recruited by Miami’s staff for more than a year. He committed to Miami over Penn State, Louisville, Pittsburgh and Stanford, although he only took official visits to Miami and Pittsburgh this month.

Coach’s Take: Miami Hurricanes land LB with “physicality, relentlessness” who is “in a mold of his own” in new commit Ezekiel Marcelin

Marcelin recorded 109 total tackles his junior season including 12 sacks on a Central team which made it to the third round of the postseason last fall and finished its year by winning five of its final six games. He’s expected to continue playing middle linebacker at Miami after playing the position all four years at Central.

Hurricanes linebackers coach Derek Nicholson and head coach Mario Cristobal were both large reasons for his interest in the Hurricanes along with the appeal of potentially playing for his hometown school. The Hurricanes made a strong move on Marcelin during his May 31 official visit and were widely viewed as the team to beat for much of his recruitment, although Pittsburgh also made a strong push leading up to his commitment.

Marcelin told CaneSport last week — after his Pittsburgh official visit — he felt Miami set the bar high during his first summer visit and said he would “love who loves you” when it came to his decision. He has said for some time he planned on announcing a decision before the start of his senior season and will likely continue to visit other programs, although also said it will be hard to flip him.

His commitment comes three days after his teammate, four-star safety Amari Wallace, also announced his commitment. The Hurricanes are still in play for three-star Central defensive tackle Randy Adirika as well after his official visit to Coral Gables this weekend.

CaneSport’s Take

It would have been considered a major miss if the Hurricanes didn’t land Marcelin, who has been high on the Hurricanes since Cristobal arrived and has numerous ties to the program including former teammates plus former Central head coach and current Hurricane recruiting staffer Roland Smith. Miami has now landed the second of three must-get Central prospects between Marcelin, Wallace and Adirika and the Canes have taken another step toward rebuilding the recruiting fence around South Florida.

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