By Matthew Osborne
SouthernPigskin.com

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After signing 33 players in the 2012 class, Miami is taking different approach in this recruiting cycle.

The 2012 recruiting class was a very important one for the Miami Hurricanes, as Al Golden and his staff reeled in 33 letters of intent from high school prospects on National Signing Day, more than any other major college program.

While Miami’s 2012 recruiting haul was considered to be a top 10 class by most experts, the Hurricanes largely failed to secure commitments from the nation’s elite high school prospects. Of the Hurricanes’ 33 commitments, a mere eight received a ranking higher than three-stars by Scout.com.

As teams are already well into the swing of things for the 2013 recruiting class, the Hurricanes are taking a slightly different approach in their recruiting efforts this year.

With significantly less scholarships available for this recruiting cycle, Miami is being much more selective when choosing which high school athletes will receive scholarship offers. At this point in time, the Hurricanes have just six verbal commitments for next year’s class.

Although the drastic reduction in the quantity of recruits they will sign this year could be construed as a negative, the Hurricanes have used their scarcity of scholarship to their advantage, focusing the bulk of their recruiting efforts on the nation’s elite players.

So far, the emphasis on targeting the country’s superior talent has paid tremendous dividends for Miami.

According to both Scout.com and Rivals.com, of all of the schools in the ACC and SEC, the Hurricanes currently have the highest average star rating for the 2013 class.

Additionally, five of Miami’s six verbal commitments are currently ranked as four-star prospects by both Scout and Rivals, with RB Ray Lewis III being the lone exception. Each of the five players is also ranked as a top 20 player at their respective position.

For a program that anxiously yearns for a return to national prominence, this is a meaningful step in the right direction.

Class rankings and class size can be solid indicators of the quality of a school’s recruiting class, but the best measure of how well a school is recruiting is the average star rating of its commits.

The Hurricanes still appear to be a couple of years away from a potential return to championship contention, but signing players such as QB Kevin Olsen, TE Standish Dobard, OLB Jayron Kearse, DT Keith Bryant and RB Alex Collins will certainly help Miami’s chances of competing for titles in the near future.

Be sure to keep a close eye on Miami’s 2013 recruiting class, as it could be the class which springboards the program back into the national spotlight.