2006s Graham Talks About Miami Pledge

College coaches became enthralled with Jimmy Graham, a 6-foot-8, 235-pound power forward from Charis Academy in Goldsboro, N.C., after seeing him shine at the ABCD camp. But to their surprise, they didn’t even have the chance to get into the mix with the class of 2006 prospect. He committed to Miami (Fla.) before his recruitment began to heat up.

“I knew the last night of the ABCD camp that Miami was were I wanted to go,” Graham said. “That was the place for me. I’d been praying about it for a long time and once the camp was over, I knew it was the right choice.”

To help matters, Miami head coach Frank Haith made a trip to North Carolina the day after the camp finished to see Graham at his high school. That sealed the deal. The new Hurricane head coach made sure he made it clear that Graham was his number one priority. He should, Graham is a steal.

As one of the top defenders at the ABCD camp, coaches scoured through their information packets, asked recruiting analysts and fellow coaches for more on the rising junior. Graham said he knew going into the shoe sponsored showcase, he’d shine on the defensive end.

“I just love to defend,” he admitted. “I knew that everyone was going to be in an offensive mindset at the camp so I knew I could stand out with my ‘D’. You gotta stop them first before you can score. That is my strong point. I’d rather block a shot than dunk the ball.”

With such a strong showing at the camp, it was no surprise to hear that over 20 schools called his coach to inquire about him. But Miami, who had been recruiting him for four to five months before the camp, already made a strong push. So what was it about the Hurricanes that struck a cord with Graham?

“With Miami now in the ACC it certainly helped make that decision easy,” Graham said. “At first it didn’t matter what conference I was going to play in but the more I thought about, playing (in the ACC) meant I would be close to home and I’d be playing in the best conference in the country.

“When I went down there for a visit, I fell in love with Miami and academically, they have everything I could want in a program. I want to be a chiropractor when I’m done playing ball. They have a good chemistry program, so I’ll probably go that route. I think I’ll be set for life after Miami.”