So this happened: Miami offers 10-year-old at Manny Diaz youth camp
If your 10-year-old came home from a Miami Hurricanes youth camp and said he landed a UM scholarship offer, the realistic response might be to laugh … or if the youngster was in dead earnest to simply chalk it up to childhood fancy and move on.
Well, today an actual, real life 10-year-old from Seattle did get a Miami offer after performing for Cane coaches at a Manny Diaz youth camp.
And we weren’t just going to take the 10-year-old’s word for it - his coach (who doubles as his father) was there when the offer was given, as were other players from the State of Washington that were on the trip with him.
So go ahead and mark this one down in the record books as the youngest player to receive a Cane offer: Dash (yes, that’s his actual given birth name) Jones, a fourth grader at Seattle Marvista Elementary School who lists himself at 4-foot-9 (no, not a typo) and says he’s unsure of his weight (I mean, what 10-year-old knows his weight?) has landed his first scholarship offer.
Oh, and for the record he’s in the Class of 2029.
“The funny thing is before the camp he came out and said he wanted to get MVP of the camp, wanted to make them offer him - that was his goal,” said Reggie Jones, Dash’s father who also is his head coach at Heir Football Academy, a developmental organization Dash plays for based in Washington. “After he got a one-on-one with one of the older kids right in front of the coaches, they were like `Let’s make this official, you have an offer from us. Tweet it, all of that.’”
A caveat: As of this typing Dash (@DashJones2_) has all of 13 followers, so not too many people might notice if he tweets it...
But back to the offer ... Jones says it came from Miami Hurricanes analyst Bob Shoop. But hey, that counts, right?
“It’s crazy even talking about it, that he has the offer, but he plays both sides of the ball, has the skills, swag,” Jones said. “I brought him out here just because he wanted to compete and he loves football. I never expected it to go any further than that.”
In another first, CaneSport has now officially interviewed its first 10-year-old recruit.
And Dash held his own during the tough line of questioning.
“I always wanted to get an offer from a big-time school,” Dash told CaneSport. “I was really happy I got it. That’s been my dream, getting an offer from this kind of school.”
In a major faux paus, though, CaneSport neglected to ask Dash if he has a date in mind for announcing his commitment. We are guessing it’ll be after UM wins several more national championships … or in another eight years … whichever comes first. And we are still checking with sources to see if this is a committable offer.
Oh, and did we mention Dash has already won a championship of his own? He spearheaded his team to victory at the American Youth Football National Championship in Kissimmee, Fla. last year.
We probably also should mention that dad Reggie is the same Reggie Jones who played in the NFL and was part of the XLIV Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints team (Dash was born in New Orleans before moving out west).
On this particular trip Dash was accompanied across the country by several other Heir Football Academy standouts - 4-star 2023 CB Jasiah Wagoner, 3-star TE Dorian Thomas and 2024 prospect Rahshawn Clark.
And Wagoner also added a UM offer to his early list that includes Washington, Colorado, Penn State and Tennessee. Travaris Robinson and Demarcus Van Dyke worked with him today.
“I got pulled aside, did a workout with coach Van Dyke and after that he said he wanted to offer me, liked the way I move,” Wagoner said. “I was pretty surprised, but they liked my film also and I was happy I got it.”
Wagoner says he’s keeping his recruitment wide open at this point.
Thomas?
He got an invitation from TE coach Stephen Field to return for Paradise Camp, but with Washington’s camp the same weekend he may not make another cross-country trek.
“Coach Field said he’s very interested in him, wants to get him back to see him go against other guys at their select camp,” Jones said. “He said if he does what he did today against that competition he’ll be offering him.”
The group went to Alabama Monday, FAU yesterday, UM today and now is on the way back to Seattle.
Where Dash will mull over his college options … err … option.
CaneSport’s take
This is a first, and we assume Miami will stay hot on his trail with weekly calls/texts for the next eight or so years. In all seriousness, we’re not sure how early is too early to offer kids anymore. But we look forward to doing our first interview with an 8-year-old … or 6-year-old?? … at next year’s Manny Diaz camp. We do love that UM made this kid’s day, and it’s something he’ll remember forever. And you watch his film and he is a rare talent. So there’s that.