College football can be unpredictable. Just ask the Miami Hurricanes, who have gone from 5-7 in Mario Cristobal’s first season as head coach, to a 10-3 team that narrowly lost 42-41 to Iowa State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
When athletes are picking which school they’ll play for, there’s nothing but optimism in the air, with the hopes of reaching their full potential. Unfortunately, that’s not always how things work out. That’s the case for two big-name players who recently entered the transfer portal but now have Miami on their radar.
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Receiver Zachariah Branch and safety Zion Branch visiting Miami
When receiver Zachariah Branch and his brother, safety Zion Branch were trying to determine which college football program would suit them best, they landed on the USC Trojans. Unfortunately, Lincoln Riley’s Trojans didn’t do so well without Caleb Williams, finishing at 7-6.
While Zachariah had a strong season, being named as a freshman All-American, there’s a sense that there’s still a lot of untapped potential that he didn’t reach at USC. Once the season ended, he, along with his brother, entered the transfer portal.
They’ve both taken visits to Georgia and Arizona State but have yet to commit to another school. Now, according to ESPN’s college football insider Pete Thamel, the dynamic duo is set to visit the Miami Hurricanes next.
As Thamel described, Zachariah is one of the country’s “most explosive receivers,” giving Miami a big chance to take yet another step as a program.
Zachariah finished third on his team with 503 receiving yards but managed to find the end zone just once. That wasn’t quite the role he envisioned in his sophomore year. Meanwhile, his brother appeared in 12 games but recorded just 19 tackles, three pass deflections, and a sack in his redshirt sophomore season. Now, the two appear ready to take their talents elsewhere, which could even include South Beach.
Zachariah was previously viewed as the nation’s No. 1 receiver prospect, and his brother was a four-star recruit as a safety, so whoever gets the pair of star siblings stands to get a big boost to their roster.
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