A Hurricanes freshman making an early impression. Plus notes from Day 1 of fall camp

The Miami Hurricanes have plenty of star potential at wide receiver with Xavier Restrepo, Jacolby George and transfer Sam Brown leading the way.

But one younger newcomer has made an early impression in true freshman Joshisa “JoJo” Trader.

“JoJo is elite,” quarterback Cam Ward said after the Hurricanes’ first practice of fall camp Tuesday. “He is going to make a lot of plays for us this year. I just have to put the ball in his vicinity and he is going to make a play.”

Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal also said Trader “had a really good day” on Tuesday.

Trader was a four-star recruit out of South Florida powerhouse Chaminade-Madonna, where he caught 47 passes for 757 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior to help the Lions win a third consecutive state title and their sixth title in seven years.

Trader was the first top-100 prospect from South Florida to commit to Miami in the recruiting Class of 2024 and was on campus for spring practice. Ward said Trader “really knows the offense more than he did coming in [during the spring] and more than he did this summer.”

“The more reps that he gets with the ones and twos,” Ward said, “it’s going to do nothing but help him.”

The Hurricanes are excited about their wide receiver depth. Beyond the quartet of Restrepo, George and Brown are redshirt sophomore Isaiah Horton, sophomore Ray Ray Joseph and freshman Ny Carr.

Bain happy ‘mentor’ Mesidor back on the field

Rueben Bain Jr. quickly emerged as one of the top defensive linemen in the country during his freshman season when he tied for the team lead with seven-and-a-half sacks and tallied 12.5 total tackles for loss.

Bain credits his success to fellow defensive end Akheem Mesidor, who only played in three games in 2023 before torn ligaments on the bottom of both feet required surgery and sidelined him for the duration of the season.

Mesidor was a full participant in practice on Tuesday after being limited during spring. Seeing him go through drills put a smile on Bain’s face.

“I missed that man,” Bain said. “That was my mentor last year. Now, we’re going to critique each other after every rep. He’ll watch me when I’m in and once he goes in, I’m watching him. That’s my brother, so now we’re looking forward to being on the field at the same time.”

Work in the trenches

Hurricanes fifth-year offensive lineman Jalen Rivers knows that a tough camp is ahead of him and the rest of Miami’s offensive line.

Facing the team’s defensive line on a daily basis — one that features Bain, Mesidor and a slew of incoming transfers (including C.J. Clark, Simeon Barrow Jr., Marley Cook and Tyler Baron) and talented freshmen (Marquise Lightfoot and Armondo Blount among them) is going to be a daily challenge.

It’s one that Rivers and the rest of the offensive line is embracing.

“They’re gonna make us better,” Rivers said. “They’re one of the top defensive lines. This is probably the best and deepest d-lines I’ve faced in my time here. We’re going to compete every day. ... I feel like — no, I know — we’re one of the best offensive lines and we’re going against the best d-line, I feel, in the nation. That’s going to get each other better.”

He said it

“It goes from January all the way through because install now is familiar and install now can evolve to be advanced and accelerated. Also, you have guys in the program that can teach it to the young guys. We’re going ones, twos, threes and fours out there. We’re repping a lot of guys. For that to be as effective and productive when the threes and fours [third- and fourth-string players] go, it’s got to look as close as possible from an assignment standpoint.” - Mario Cristobal on the value of continuity with both offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson and defensive coordinator Lance Guidry returning.