Commitment breakdown: Miami lands four-star big Favour Aire
Miami landed its fourth pledge of the 2022 cycle on Wednesday, when 6-foot-11 center Favour Aire announced that he’d be signing with Miami. The No. 59 prospect in the Rivals150, Aire joins fellow four-star prospect AJ Casey as well as three-stars Danilo Jovanovich and Christian Watson on the Hurricanes' commitment list. Below, Rivals.com takes a look at what Aire brings to Coral Gables as well as what it means for the bigger picture of UM hoops.
WHAT MIAMI IS GETTING:
Aire’s well-earned reputation is that of a rim-protector capable of running the floor and finishing under the basket. And while those things are certainly true, his offensive game has expanded beyond second-chance points and dunks. Aire isn’t going to hurt you with a deep jumper, but he’s shown a handful of effective post moves and looks to be getting comfortable playing with his back to the basket. He’ll become more efficient in that role as he continues to add muscle. At 6-foot-10 with a wingspan that seems to go a little beyond that, Aire’s length and motor make him a threat to impact games on the glass, where he feasts on second-chance points. The tools to impact the ACC are there in spades, so the four-star big has the feel of a prospect that could start to click in a major way a year from now, when he becomes stronger in the upper-body and more polished from a skill standpoint.
WHAT IT MEANS FOR MIAMI:
Jim Larranaga and his staff market Miami as a culturally Northeastern school located in the Southeast and have had a lot of success recruiting northern prospects because of it. The Bronx-born Larranaga and most of his staff are from up north and know the ropes of recruiting in the region, which certainly played at least a small part in landing Aire, who has lived in the DMV area since coming to the United States from Nigeria in 2017. The Hurricanes beat out closer-to-home programs such as Maryland, Georgetown and Rutgers to land the four-star big, which should be encouraging to a fan base that has watched its team miss the NCAA Tournament for three consecutive years, as it proves that Miami can still stand toe-to-toe with heavy hitters on the trail despite a lack of recent on-court success.
]IN HIS WORDS:
“Coach [Jim Larranaga] made a whole plan when I came to the school for my visit, showed a whole plan how he’d develop me. He said how much they see me getting better, how much they can help me get better. I saw that, and that was great, they showed a growth plan.” -- Aire to CanesSport.com about his visit to Coral Gables