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New Miami coach blames Kevin Durant for football recruiting woes

Rocky Widner / National Basketball Association / Getty

Kevin Durant's decision to join the Golden State Warriors has apparently had a trickle-down effect on college football - at least according to the University of Miami's new head coach.

Manny Diaz cited Durant as the reason why so many football recruits from South Florida have committed to schools in other states this year.

"Look, the world has changed, and I'm going to blame the NBA," Diaz told Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. "Once Kevin Durant went to the Warriors after they were 3-1 up when he was at Oklahoma City - kids want to go where the winning is. So, that's hard because you have to create the winning to get them to come to where the winning is. So, there's a natural tendency to be drawn to the places that are currently on top, which, that's fair."

As noted by Jackson, the Hurricanes have commitments from just two of the 16 players from the tri-county area of South Florida ranked among ESPN's top 300 Class of 2019 prospects. Eleven have committed elsewhere and three are undecided.

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