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BREAKING: Miami flips DL Isaac Chukwurah from Penn State

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 Wagner4 hours agostephenwagOn3
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Defensive lineman Isaac Chukwurah. (Photo Credit: Andre L. Smith | André El Photography)

Miami has flipped one of its most coveted defensive line targets in the 2026 cycle from a prominent Big Ten power.

The Hurricanes have completed their flip of Bear (De.) Caravel Academy three-star 2026 defensive lineman and Penn State commit Isaac Chukwurah, the No. 29 defensive lineman in the Rivals300 announced. Chukwurah becomes Miami’s fifth defensive line commit along with four-star defensive tackles Keshawn Stancil and Anthony Kennedy and three-star pledges Tyson Bacon and Frederic Sainteus, who were notable priorities for the Hurricanes.

“Miami has all of the things I’m looking for,” Chukwurah told CaneSport. “A place I can develop into a better player and go to the NFL. They also have great opportunities off the field in terms of what I want to do after football and stuff like that, and what coach (Mario) Cristobal is building, it gives me a chance to be a winner at the college level.”

Chukwurah’s commitment came after about a week of positive buildup leading into the visit amid an aggressive weeks-long effort from Miami’s staff. The Hurricanes became aggressively involved with Chukwurah when he announced he was re-opening his recruitment after Penn State head coach James Franklin was fired in early October and quickly became a favorite by Halloween.

NC State, West Virginia, Tennessee and Syracuse were also involved along with Penn State, who worked to keep him in its class. He took an official visit to NC State the weekend of Nov. 1 and had future official visits scheduled with West Virginia and Syracuse the rest of the month, although a significant amount of buzz swirled around Miami.

He’s no longer expected to visit other programs before signing day.

“I’m really excited to be a Hurricane!” Chukwurah said. “Like I said, there’s a lot of great opportunity down there in Miami. I feel like I can be the best I can be at Miami, so I’m definitely excited for my future and see where this can lead.”

Chukwurah could be the second in a string of potential commitments for the Hurricanes this week as we continue to monitor prospects like four-star LSU EDGE decommit DeAnthony Lafayette, four-star Clemson safety decommit Blake Stewart three-star Pittsburgh defensive line commit Logan Nagle and four-star 2027 running back Brayden Tyson in addition to four-star safety James Dunnigan, who committed Sunday night. We’ve stated multiple times over the past few weeks we anticipate Miami finishing with around 30-to-32 commits, although it’s certainly possible the Canes end up with more.

CaneSport’s Take

The Hurricanes needed and wanted defensive linemen this cycle, so they’re getting defensive linemen this cycle. This could end up being a remarkably good trenches class for Miami considering the Canes now have six offensive linemen committed and five defensive linemen committed and could have two or three offensive and defensive linemen contribute as true freshmen next season.

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