ESPN 300 quarterback Jake Garcia announced his commitment to Miami on Wednesday, choosing the Miami over Florida State and Arkansas.
Garcia is the No. 18 ranked prospect overall in the ESPN 300. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound prospect gives Miami nine ESPN 300 commitments in the class, which is headlined by five-star defensive tackle Leonard Taylor, the No. 6 ranked recruit.
Going live on his Instagram page to announce the decision with his high school teammates, an announcer accidentally introduced Garcia as a Miami commit and let the cat out of the bag.
Garcia then said the announcement was a mistake and left the feed. He returned a few minutes later to announce his decision, but Miami was still the choice.
Quarterback was still a big need for Miami, and Garcia is giving the staff an excellent option for the future as he is the No. 2 ranked pocket passer in the class.
Garcia had originally been committed to USC, but decommitted earlier this month and ultimately chose the Hurricanes. Garcia has had a winding road to get to this point as he had not completed a full season of high school football leading into this senior season.
He backed up Matt Corral at Long Beach Polytechnic in Garcia’s freshman year, then transferred to multiple high schools after that. Garcia is originally from California, and the state postponed his high school season, so Garcia transferred to Valdosta High School in Georgia.
His father made the move with him to Georgia, while his mother stayed back in California. Garcia’s father, Randy, told ESPN that he and his wife, Yvonne, legally separated to meet the Georgia High School Association’s transfer requirements.
The GHSA deemed him ineligible, so Garcia then transferred to Grayson High School in Loganville, Georgia, where he finished out his high school career.
Now he’ll be on the move to Miami, where he’ll bring some much-needed depth and competition at quarterback. The staff signed ESPN 300 quarterback Tyler Van Dyke in the 2020 class and three-star Peyton Matocha in 2019, while D’Eriq King is a senior this season and N’Kosi Perry is a junior.