Miami Hurricanes’ Xavier Restrepo declares for NFL Draft after record-setting UM career

While most of the No. 13 Miami Hurricanes’ key players participated in the Pop-Tarts Bowl against No. 18 Iowa State on Saturday to close out the 2024 season, one notable leader was missing.

Fifth-year senior wide receiver Xavier Restrepo, who rewrote the Hurricanes’ record book during the past two seasons, announced on his personal X (formerly Twitter) page on Saturday that he is declaring for the NFL Draft.

He was not with the team in Orlando for the 42-41 loss to Iowa State.

“It’s been a lifelong dream to play in the National Football League since I was a little 5 year old kid,” Restrepo wrote in the post, in which he also thanks “my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” his family, teammates and Hurricanes fans. “Now I believe it is time for me to go pursue my dreams and aspirations!”

Restrepo finishes the season with 69 catches for 1,127 yards and 11 touchdowns en route to being named a first-team All-American by the America Football Coaches Association and second-team All-American by Sporting News, the Associated Press and Football Writers Association of America.

He set the UM career records for receptions (200) and receiving yards (2,844) and is fourth all-time in school history in receiving touchdowns (21). Restrepo, a Coconut Creek native, is also the only player in Hurricanes history to have multiple 1,000-yard receiving seasons.

Restrepo wasn’t the only receiver missing for the Hurricanes on Saturday, though. Miami will also without be without Isaiah Horton, who entered the transfer portal, and fifth-year redshirt junior Sam Brown, who like Restrepo declared for the NFL Draft on Saturday.

With those three players out, the Hurricanes are without three of their top five receivers from the season, a trio that accounted for 2,252 of the team’s 4,311 receiving yards — or 52.2% of the team’s receiving production — and 18 of the team’s 38 receiving touchdowns. Senior receiver Jacolby George (728 yards, seven touchdowns entering Saturday) and redshirt junior tight end Elijah Arroyo (526 yards, six touchdowns entering Saturday) are the only UM players with more than 200 receiving yards participating in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.

That opened the door for several younger players to see game action — and they took advantage.

True freshman Joshisa Trader, a former standout at Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna, caught three passes for 61 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown. Redshirt junior Shemar Kirk caught two passes for 22 yards. And sophomore Ray Ray Joseph had two catches for 17 yards.

Two other Hurricanes were noticeably absent on Saturday in cornerbacks Damari Brown and Daryl Porter Jr.

Brown has dealt with injury all season, playing in just two games — the season opener against Florida and the regular-season finale against Syracuse. Porter is a fifth-year senior.