Two more players have left, or were asked to leave, the Miami Hurricanes football program – sophomore wide receiver Robert Lockhart Jr. and sophomore defensive end Ricardo Williams.

On the surface, these stories always seem to turn heads. More guys are bailing out? Something must be wrong. Is head coach Al Golden losing control? Blah. Blah. Blah.

This one really is pretty easy to decipher. Receiver-wise, the Hurricanes are set and Lockhart wanted out. Period. Look at this year’s roster. Allen Hurns, Phillip Dorsett, Malcolm Lewis, Rashawn Scott, Jontavious Carter and Herb Waters, as well as redshirt freshman D’Mauri Jones and incoming freshman, Stacy Coley.

Lockhart is out of Delray Beach and came to Miami out of Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia.

There was some question as to if he’d redshirt last season, but with some injuries at the wide receiver position, he saw action mid-season against North Carolina and played against Florida State. A week later, a season-ending injury against Virginia Tech. Lockhart finished the 2012 football season without a catch.

Did that burned redshirt lead to discontent? Is the logjam at wide receiver disheartening? Whatever the case, the kid can hardly be blamed. He did his year at Fork Union, he came to Miami wanting to play, his freshman year ended reception-less and his injury could’ve caused him to get a bit lost in the shuffle. If Lockhart wants out and to start elsewhere, wish him the best and open up the scholarship.

Same for Williams, the 6-foot-5, 251-pound redshirt sophomore out of Homestead who is yet to make his mark for the Hurricanes. Williams sat out the 2011 season and last year only saw action in one game at North Carolina.

Despite the lack of depth on Miami’s defensive line the past few years, Williams is yet to make a mark and never found his way and with three years remaining, another situation where it makes sense to cut a kid loose, wish him the best and to reel in a guy who might be a better fit, whatever the position.

That really is the name of the game right now for The U; it’s all about the numbers. No one has a clue what NCAA sanctions will be and while common logic and best case scenario revolved around this ‘time served’ talk, in regards to suspensions, two self-imposed bowl bans and a purposefully-missed ACC Championship game appearance, based on that train wreck of a governing body that runs this sport, one has to believe more could be coming down the pike, if for no other reason than to save face.

Gut feeling? Miami will lose some scholarships based on this NCAA investigation. Will it be lighter than what many expected a few years back? Absolutely, but even if you’re giving up a few slots on the roster, it makes every remaining kid that much more valuable.

If you have a few sophomores who aren’t making a mark and are making noise about heading elsewhere, then you part ways, thank them for the effort and make sure those two scholarships go towards guys who can help rebuild.

For those lamenting the departure of these two, what if Lockhart’s scholarship goes to the next great defensive back or Williams’ moving on allows the Canes to reel in a JUCO transfer that can help on the defensive line immediately?

The world of recruiting, building rosters and adding depth is an exact science and thankfully for UM, Golden appears to have a very good grasp on how this whole thing works. Ties have been cut with the ‘wrong’ players – be it a personnel issue, discipline related or simply a bad fit – since early 2011 and two years later, it’s still the case.

For Miami to succeed, this program needs the right kids. Guys who want to be here, players ready to buy-in and overall difference-makers that will lead the Canes to prominence.

In the short-run, it hurts to lose a Lockhart or Williams, but in the next two years, watch where those extra scholarships go.

As always, allCanesBlog.com thanks these kids for their effort and wishes them nothing but the best in their continued journey. #UFAMILY

UM picked up two in the first inning on Thursday night, setting the tone. Eric Whaley got the start and went five, giving up two hits and no runs. Miami led 5-0, courtesy of a three-run third, by the time Whaley gave way to Thomas Woodrey, who lasted 1.2 innings, surrendering three hits and three runs.

Up 5-1 after six, Miami responded with a two-run sixth. Georgia Tech picked up two in the top of the seventh, but up 7-3, the Canes stayed in control, eventually pulling out the 8-3 win after one final run in the eighth. Miami had eleven hits to Georgia Tech’s five, while both teams each stranded four runners on base.

Brad Fieger proved to be the brightest spot offensively, with a sacrifice fly in the first and a one-out double in the third, both accounting for three Miami runs.

Friday had the Canes again pouncing early with back-to-back four-run innings to kick off the evening. Up 8-1 after two, Miami was firmly in control. Chris Diaz got the start and lasted seven innings, giving up eight hits and three runs before AJ Salcines took over.

David Thompson was game two’s offensive bright spot with five runs batted in, the most impressive moment, a three-run homer in the bottom of the second. Thompson also had an RBI in the third and the six.

The Canes led 11-3 entering the top of the ninth, with Adam Sargent and Alexander Fernandez having some struggles before Eric Nedeljkovic struck out two for the 11-7 win.

Saturday’s series finale was an all-out nightmare as Miami fell, 10-1. Bryan Radziewski lasted five innings, giving up five hits and four runs. Vince Kossak attempted to relieve but was chased in less than an inning, nailed for four hits and four runs. Georgia Tech got another in the top of the seventh and led 9-0 with two to play.

The teams traded runs in the ninth and the Hurricanes took the lopsided regular season-ending loss. Miami wrapped the regular season 35-21 overall and 14-16 in conference play.

The ACC Tournament starts this Wednesday in Durham, at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The North Carolina Tar Heels are the top seed, while Miami is eighth. Also in Pool A, fourth-seeded North Carolina State and fifth-seeded Clemson.

Pool B consists of second-ranked Florida State, three-seed Virginia, sixth-seeded Georgia Tech and seven-seed Virginia Tech.

Miami and North Carolina will play at 3pm ET on Thursday and the Canes will again take the field at 11am on Friday, facing off against North Carolina State. Miami and Clemson will play Saturday at 3pm, with a Pool A versus Pool B championship on Sunday at 1pm ET.

Former Hurricanes point guard Shane Larkin and former forward Kenny Kadji are headed to Chicago this week for the NBA Combine, which begins Wednesday and runs through Sunday. The two former Miami stars are two of 61 future NBA players who will go through a series of tests to measure their overall skills sets.

Larkin is projected as a late-first round or early-second round pick while Kadji is seen as a second-rounder. Both have been training with fellow Miami teammates Reggie Johnson and Julian Gamble at the IMG Academy in Bradenton and will head to Chicago together Wednesday morning.

The latest to join the party; three-star prospect Brad Kaaya out of West Hills Chaminade High, northwest of Los Angeles. Kaaya is a 6-foot-4, 213-pound prospect who was interested in a slew of programs and had an offer from San Diego State, but chose Miami now because the Canes were on his early, offering first. The Sun-Sentinel’s Michael Casagrande weighed in on Kaaya in his column earlier today:

“The pro-style quarterback has a powerful arm that is perfectly suited for Miami’s single-back, four-wide formation. For a high school player, he has an exceptional repertoire of throws. If you need a comparable, you won’t find a better one than current UM QB Stephen Morris.

His footwork is a bit suspect, but there’s little doubt that it can be refined, as he shows excellent form on throwing while rolling out of the pocket, especially to his left.

It must be a great year for quarterbacks in Southern California if Kaaya only earned a three stars rating. He’d be the ranked No. 1 quarterback in South Florida.”

Kaaya made the decision on Sunday and called Coley to commit on Monday morning.

Miami already has a verbal commit from dual-threat quarterback Alin Edouard, a three-star prospect out of Hialeah, but the commitment isn’t thought to be rock solid, which is why the Canes have reeled in Kaaya and might not be done quarterback-shopping for next season’s class.

Morris will depart after this season, which opens the door for commit Kevin Olsen , a four-star prospect out of New Jersey, and brother of former Hurricanes’ tight end Greg Olsen, who signed with Miami months back. Olsen is expected to redshirt this season to learn the system, but that could change.

Memphis-transfer Ryan Williams will return for his redshirt senior season next year, as will Gray Crow, who will be a redshirt sophomore in 2014, as will Preston Dewey, who flirted with transferring this off-season.

The University of Miami was built on competition and no more important a position to have some energy than under center. A lot of talent lining up and next spring should be as rowdy a quarterbacks battle as this program has seen in decades.

Welcome to The U, @TrinidadBrad!

One can respect the way a local article would point out any possible bright spot with this UM team, but at day’s end, going 2-4 against the likes of Wake Forest and Boston College with the post-season days away? Absolutely pathetic baseball, no matter how you try to dress it up.

A week ago the Canes took on a horrible Eagles squad that was winless in the ACC in early May. This past weekend, a squad that was 7-17 in conference play just took the final two games of this series.

Miami is now 33-20 overall and 12-15 in ACC play with Georgia Tech headed to Coral Gables this weekend. More frustrating, the way these Hurricanes have been losing ball games.

UM got the 8-3 win in game one Friday night. Three runs in the first inning set the tone and Miami was up 7-0 before Wake Forest showed any life, scoring two in the third and two more in the seventh. Chris Diaz went seven innings, giving up seven hits, one run and striking out five. He was relieved by Eric Whaley and AJ Salcines, who combined for two innings and gave up four total hits.

Miami had twelve hits on the day to Wake Forest’s eleven, but the Canes’ defense stepped up, turning five double plays in route to that game one win.

From there, the wheels again came off against a lesser foe. On Saturday, Wake Forest took the early 3-0 lead after one, but Miami made it a one-run game after four and took a 4-3 lead in the top of the eighth. In the ninth, it came unglued.

Bryan Radziewski went seven innings, giving up six hits and three runs while striking out ten. Javi Salas came in for one, striking out two and giving up no hits. Eric Nedeljkovic relieved in the ninth, giving up two hits and the game’s final two runs.

Miami had eight hits to Wake Forest’s eight and the teams combined for seventeen runners left on base (nine for the Deacs, eight for the Canes), but in a close game, it came down to that final inning in crunch time and the home team delivered.

A twenty-six minute rain delay didn’t help Nedeljkovic’s cause as he walked Brett Armour upon his return. Two batters later Charlie Morgan drove the ball to the wall in left center, doubling, plating Armour and tying the game.

Miami walked the next batter, wound out getting a force-out on a grounder, but couldn’t retire the hitter. From there, a hit batter loaded the bases and a Matt Conway single drove in the game-winning run.

Tough as game two was to swallow, the rubber match was the back-breaker, courtesy of an embarrassing six-run eighth inning given up in a game that was tied 3-3 with three to play.

The teams traded runs in the second and third, tying things 1-1 until the top of the fifth when Miami gone one and took the lead. Wake responded with two, going up, 3-2 and the Canes tied things up with one in the top of the sixth. A back-and-forth contest with a few to play, it appeared to be anybody’s game before a disastrous bottom of the eighth.

Andrew Suarez went four innings for Miami, giving up four hits and three runs, which brought in Whaley for an inning, where he gave up a hit. Thomas Woodrey relieved and went just under an inning, striking out one before the tag team duo of Salas and Salcines we’re charged with six runs, with Salas earning the loss.

The Demon Deacons sent ten batters to the place in the bottom of the eighth, made possible due to sloppy defense by the Hurricanes. A mishandled ball on a sacrifice bunt. A poor fielding choice that led to two runs. Then the were the a few RBI-fueled doubles that proved to be insult to injury on Senior Day for a squad with little to celebrate this season. In the end, a 9-3 loss for Miami in a game tied with nine total outs remaining.

Georgia Tech heads to town Thursday through Saturday and is coming off a series win in Atlanta over second-ranked North Carolina this past weekend, handing the Tar Heels two of their four losses on the season. The Yellow Jackets are now 32-20 over all and 14-13 in conference play. They’ll take on state-rival Georgia in a one-game series before heading to Coral Gables for the home finale.

Miami needs one win to guarantee a trip to the ACC Tournament next week. A lone win just to reach a conference tourney, not Omaha. How the mighty have fallen.

While private school tuition costs and scholarship reductions are real issues for this program, neither excuse going 2-4 against some ACC bottom-dwellers.

Three games remain. Let’s see what you have left in the tank, Miami. From here it doesn’t look like all that much.

Stories like this absolutely destroy me. Almost three decades later I still remember a junior high classmate who was murdered, high school colleagues taken too soon or other acquantences or friends of friends that left way too soon.

I’m haunted by young people meeting their demise well before their time and see it as the most unfair aspect of life; a life never promised to be just, but no still no solace in knowing that fact as we trudge along.

There’s no greater tragedy than parents having to bury their child or siblings losing their closest confidants before ‘real life’ has even gotten underway.

Dino Ghilotti was from Marin County in Northern California and based on what’s been posted online the past two days, he came from a large, loving Italian family. He recently earned his business degree, having graduated in a ceremony at the University of Miami on Friday night.

Out late celebrating on Saturday, he perished as a passenger in a two-car accident early Sunday morning. It was Mother’s Day and his relatives were in South Florida celebrating his accomplishment. Next up, a return to the Bay Area to earn his place in the family’s construction business.

A new chapter was upon him and for a family who just spent the past few years missing their son who was attending college three time zones away, counting the minutes until he returned, they’ll now bring him home to his final resting place. A more tragic script could not be written. There are no words, sounds or emotions for this level of heartbreak.

Opposite of Dino, I grew up in South Florida and finished my education in Gainesville while my family relocated to Southern California. I remember the joy of heading west for summertime or holiday breaks, as well as the pain that came from saying goodbye, knowing months would pass without seeing each other again.

Almost two decades later, I still have dreams of being in school, semesters shy of graduation, missing home and that empty feeling I’d have when returning to the airport in Orlando, ready for a trek back to the University of Florida, San Diego still on the brain and half a burrito rolling around in my backpack.

While Dino was heading back from wherever his final night took him, I was out with friends in San Diego, taking in some live music as an all-time favorite artist was in town. Stephen Kellogg debuted songs from his forthcoming album.

The first single is “Crosses”, Kellogg’s tribute to makeshift memorials on the side of the road, commemorating lost loved ones and the stories that the passers-by will never know, but that friends and family can never forget.

“Hold on to memories, look for a sign that. Talk to gravestones that never seem to talk back. Never knowing what could have been. Left with the hope of seeing him again. Left with the hope of seeing her again.

It’s easy now to recognize that there were crosses in the road. Secrets that were never told. The river and the train, so different by the same. They were just getting where they need to go. Somewhere far from heaven only knows.

All this time I’m still haunted by your face and I think of you on your darkest night, I wish that I could save you from the wreckage of your last goodbye. When I’m lonely I got see you and the crosses in the road. Pay our respects to crosses in the road.”

The song rattled my cage late Saturday evening when I heard it for the first time and after learning of this story on Sunday morning, it just flattened me. I’m destroyed for a family I don’t even know, simply because of some commonalities that come from a big, close-knit upbringing, as well as the human side of us that just breaks when we see a tribe going through something so painfully unimaginable.

Dino, thank you for choosing the University of Miami and Ghilotti family, thank you for boldly allowing your son to follow the path that took him to Coral Gables. As the father of a three-year-old little girl, I simply cannot imagine what has just become your reality. You are being forced to live out every parent’s greatest fear. I am so sorry for your pain.

Our family-owned business and this U Family are heartbroken for your unimaginable tragedy and wish God’s grace on you during this time of suffering. Go Canes.

Christian Bello has been covering Miami Hurricanes athletics since the mid-1990s. After spending almost a decade as a columnist for CanesTime, he launched allCanesBlog.com. – the official blog for allCanes.com : The #1 Canes Shop Since 1959. Bello has joined up with XOFan.com and will be a guest columnist at CaneInsider.com this fall. Follow him on Twitter @ChristianRBello.

Thursday May 23rd will feature the biggest UM football-themed event you’re going to see between now and the season as the Sixth Annual Chicago Coaches Dinner will take place at The Westin Chicago, starting at 6:30pm.

Alan Knitowski, CEO and co-founder of Phunware, whose company helped creat the allCanes iPhone app, is making the trek from Austin to Chicago in a few weeks, as a co-sponsor of the event.

“When the Chicago Alumni Chapter approached several of us living elsewhere in the United States about broadening the scope and reach of their fundraising event for UM football scholarship support, me and many others were extremely excited to get involved,” said Knitowski, BSIE 1991 and UM Presidents Council Member.

“Not only will the event set a record in its fundraising efforts to help Coach Golden and the football team’s players, but it will also bring passionate Miami alumni from across the country together to celebrate the past, present and future of Hurricane football and our collective love of alma mater.”

This year’s group includes head coach Al Golden, offensive coordinator James Coley, running backs coach Hurlie Brown, tight ends coach Larry Scott, former defensive great Ted Hendricks, national champion and Super Bowl-winning wide receiver Michael ‘The Playmaker’ Irvin, national champion and Super Bowl-winning defensive tackle Russell Maryland, national champion and baseball great Marcus Nettles, former tight end Greg Olsen, national champion and former running back Jarrett Payton, as well as national champion and Super Bowl winning linebacker Jon Vilma.

Guests will have the opportunity to bid on auction items, including autographed game helmets and jerseys, game tickets, travel packages and much more. Proceeds from the Chicago Coaches Dinner directly benefit the University of Miami Athletic initiatives and provide scholarship opportunities for Chicago-area students who want to attend ‘The U’.

The event is already near capacity so register online today and those who can’t make the event or are interest in sponsorship information, please click here.

We had a nice little turnout and got some great pics at the alumni center, Mark Light Stadium, the SAE frat house, other assorted on-campus spots, as well at at allCanes.

Tons of new merchandise is rolling in and will continue doing so between now and kickoff late August. Keep checking back. Also, a new-look allCanes.com will launch this summer, where the majority of these pics will be featured. Stay tuned.

More photoshoots forthcoming so members of the U Family between the ages of 18 and 32 (or in that ballpark), email us your pics and we’ll get back to you. Always on the hunt for models. Go Canes!

Thomas, hat crooked to the side, smirk on his face and arm chopping away on that first Wednesday in February, chose to take his talents to Tallahassee.

The 6-foot-3, 205-pound outside linebacker had offers from all the big boys and was considered the second-best at his position nationwide. The hometown Hurricanes were thought to have a leg up for a while, but down the stretch it looked like a two-horse race with UM and FSU, though Georgia and Alabama weren’t too far behind.

Now three months later, without yet enrolling at Florida State, Thomas wants out, stating that he wasn’t “fully committed” to signing with the Seminoles when announcing his decision.

“I’ve told them [FSU] it’s nothing personal. I just didn’t make the decision I really wanted to on Signing Day,” said Thomas.

“What happened was on Signing Day I wasn’t sure who I wanted to sign with. I had issues with different schools. But when I told my mom I didn’t want to sign with anybody and wait and give it a few days she said I couldn’t do that. She said, ‘FSU is a good school –- pick them. It’s close to home.’ I wasn’t agreeing with it. But I felt like I was being disrespectful to her if I didn’t sign. So I made her happy.”

Furthermore, Miami is no longer in the picture as Thomas supposedly has his eyes set on the University of Georgia, where five-star running back and former UM commit Sony Michel recently committed as part of the 2014 class.

Yet leading up to Signing Day, Thomas was actually leaning towards Southern Cal, but was steered towards Florida State, so he could remain closer to family. Other reports have the Trojans still in the mix.

“I’ve been in Miami all my life,” Thomas said. “Georgia needs linebackers. It’s a big program. I have family in Georgia. USC, growing up I never thought I would have an opportunity that big. I just want to go have fun and play football.”

Whatever the case, a safe bet that Miami hasn’t had Thomas on its radar in a good while, either, as he proving to be just the type of kid this program is looking to avoid.

On the surface, Thomas is playing the confused card, implying that he signed under duress. A kid wanted to make mom proud, but also supposedly didn’t understand all the facts and was under the impression he had to make a choice that day, or else.

Without knowing all the facts, you hate to point fingers at an eighteen-year old kid, but are we really to believe that high school coaches, mentors and other parental figures in his life could’ve failed to make this piece of information clear in regards to a kid who seemed to be all over the place in his decision making?

And where was head coach Tim “Ice” Harris in all this? What kind of advice has he been giving his kids? Thomas is now the second of Harris’ players from the 2013 class who has been a bit unorthodox in his process.

Back in January, offensive lineman Denver Kirkland, pictured with Thomas above, had a public battle with the University of Miami when head coach Al Golden rescinded the scholarship offer UM had been holding for the four-star prospect.

Harris immediately took his story to the Miami Herald, while blasting UM via Twitter. He stated that Kirkland was absolutely Coral Gables-bound, but wanted to make his announcement live on Signing Day – which honestly is a crock, as a kid could silently commit to coaches and then play the hat game in front of TV cameras.

Some speculate that Harris, still frustrated that his relationship fizzled with UM having been on staff under Randy Shannon and let go soon after the former coach was fired in late 2010, was pushing Kirkland towards Arkansas, where his former colleague is now employed.

Miami extended the olive branch to Kirkland, had a sit-down and put the offer back on the table, but the lineman still refused to commit, despite the second chance he asked for, and in the end joined Shannon and the Razorbacks.

One erratic high school head coach and now two of his best players making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Something definitely stinks here.

As a supporter of the University of Miami, it’s easy to take this at face value, jumping on this current staff about “letting top local talent get away”. So much chatter about having to “keep these guys home” and them going elsewhere being an indictment on the current staff and their ability to close – instead of what really might be a blessing; this staff’s eye for avoiding headaches.

Look at the current State Of Miami. The kids who have been brought on board, the ones who have gotten away and those who have been asked to leave.

Coaches pulled back from Kirkland for a reason and while Miami-themed recruiting sites continued to dangle the “Thomas to UM” carrot, it appears this staff pulled away from him, as well.

Furthermore, look at some of the recent kids UM parted ways with. Former cornerback Thomas Finnie as well as linebackers Gionni Paul, Eddie Johnson and Gabe Terry.

Three of the four were late-in-the-game signees. Higher-risk guys that coaches signed late when others got away, or simply to fill roster spots on a depleted team. They were given a chance, struck out and were shown the door, as there’s zero tolerance for that type of selfishness or insubordination for a program in rebuild mode.

Finnie was one of the last kids added to Golden’s first class in 2011, a local kids poached from South Carolina’s class as Miami had less than a half dozen verbal commits in December 2010.

New on the job and needing bodies, Golden took a chance on Finnie and hoped for the best. The cornerback wound up in trouble for stealing a laptop, which ended his days at The U.

Paul was a three-star product out of Lakeland who was committed to Arizona State, but also plucked by Golden as he assembled that first class. There was a need for linebackers and with only two months to get it done, Miami had to go after some second- or third-choice type players. Paul and UM parted ways back in January.

Johnson came to Miami from Atlanta and was yet another last-minute guy from that first class. Originally committed to Louisville, Golden pursued Johnson in late January and flipped him in a matter of days. He committed less than week before Signing Day 2011 and was also a part of that first Golden class, but was recently dismissed for never getting his head on straight.

As for Terry, a three-star defensive-end-turned-linebacker from Wellington, Miami knew of his troubled past, accepted that he had been rehabilitated and gave him one shot at living up to his commitment.

Terry was part of Golden’s second class and with a need for defenders, an under-the-radar guy who seemed to have turned it around – coaches hoped this could be that pivotal moment in the young man’s life. When he proved it wasn’t, he was sent packing.

If looking at this current Miami program objectively, it’s obvious to see where things were, what they are and where it will go. Golden inherited a mess; the 35-29 record the previous five seasons, the least of his concerns.

More troubling was the lack of conditioning, the self-entitlement, the depth woes and everything else that helped create that sub-par record.

As this process refines itself, you’re seeing Miami take less chances on the wrong kind of players, while not being afraid to walk away from perceived head cases. Golden also refuses to be handcuffed by the lack of depth that will come from booting kids from thin positions, as witnessed by the removal of three key linebackers in a four-month span.

If you’re stuck with the task of rebuilding, it’s something that has to be done right. Roll up your sleeves, take your time, set the proper foundation and then get busy. If you fast-track it or cut corners, you inevitably will pay down the road.

Ironically, Thomas is finding that out regarding the way he played the recruiting game. He didn’t take his time, weigh things out, seek wise counsel or choose informatively, and he’ll now going to pay a price, however things play out.

Florida State holds Thomas’ fate in their collective hands as it’s up to head coach Jimbo Fisher whether he’ll release the prized recruit. Seminoles coaches were in Miami this week re-selling Thomas on their program, working to convince the eighteen-year old to honor his commitment.

As a coach, you want to see the kid you worked so hard to land staying put and giving you the next three or four years of his life on the field.

Conversely, as a parent you hate to see a youngster paying a price for an in-the-moment decision they now regret, yet in the same breathe realize there is a life lesson to be learned here regarding giving your word, as well as ramifications for those actions.

There’s also the perspective of the kid – and that’s just what Thomas is here, a kid. Should he have to pay a price for misplaying the situation? To this point he gave his word and signed a piece of paper. Is he asking too much for another chance to get it right? We’re talking about where to play college football, not signing up for military service, but then again, he did give his word and that has to be dealt with in some way, or another.

If Thomas really wants out, Fisher and the Seminoles should let him go, but as other programs have done in the past, they reserve the right to take away some options, not allowing him to go to a few certain programs. There simply has to be come caveat or punishment for what Thomas did here, both to teach him a lesson, as well as to send a message to other potential recruits, allowing them to learn from his mistake.

Whatever does happen, very thankful that this soap opera managed to avoid Coral Gables and the ‘full speed ahead’ coaches and players have with fall just around the corner.

Christian Bello has been covering Miami Hurricanes athletics since the mid-1990s. After spending almost a decade as a columnist for CanesTime, he launched allCanesBlog.com. – the official blog for allCanes.com : The #1 Canes Shop Since 1959. Bello has joined up with XOFan.com and will be a guest columnist at CaneInsider.com this fall. Follow him on Twitter @ChristianRBello.

The latest scoop regarding Mark Emmert and his merry band of thugs pertains to former Miami basketball coach Frank Haith, who has filed a court petition to determine how his detailed bank records were accessed during the NCAA’s investigation to the University of Miami.

Haith, now the head coach at Missouri, and his attorney, Michael Buckner, want to know if the cancelled checks were illegally obtained. The petition states that certain information could’ve been improperly gathered by accessing the microfiche reproductions of the checks, microfiche copies that were supposedly not turned over to the NCAA.

Should the petition be granted, it would allow Bucker to subpoena Bank Of America employees who had access to Haith’s account (between October 1st, 2011 and October 31st, 2012).

From there it’s in the hands of a judge to determine if the hearing warrants a petition and if so, whether Haith can issue subpoenas to depose witnesses.

Haith learned of these possible improprieties when requesting microfiche copies of checks, per the NCAA’s request. At that time, Buckner was informed by BOA that said microfiche copies had already been “viewed or ordered” by another party. (Uh-oh!)

In October 2013, Pamela Haith, Frank’s wife, contacted BOA’s customer service division, where the rep reportedly implied that microfiche copies have been previously viewed, or ordered. For more detail on the entire situation, Dennis Dodd at CBSSports.com penned a very detailed piece on Monday, which is worth the read.

Details aside, easy to see that this as more proof that the NCAA would stop at nothing to nail Miami to the wall. Illegal and unethical practices that have ruined the organization’s reputation and have cost employees their careers, all while putting UM through the ringer, based on the unprovable word of a convicted felon in Nevin Shapiro.

Miami obviously isn’t innocent and without blame here, which is why multiple suspensions, two self-imposed bowl bans, as well as sitting out the program’s first ACC Championship game appearance should be considered time served. This dark cloud has hovered over the program going on two years now. Enough is enough.

In other news, the NCAA revealed some new testimony in the former of Roberto Torres, former CFO for Shapiro’s Capital Investments, was deposed last month and revealed that he “witnesses” lavish parties throw in the “mid-2000s” on Shapiro’s yacht, including then-current Hurricanes, as well as prospective athletes.

Torres is reported as saying, he “saw them on the boat”, though he didn’t mention any specific athletes. It should also be mentioned that Torres shared this news from the inside, as he’s serving a four-year prison sentence for his involvement in Shapiro’s $930-million dollar Ponzi scheme.

Yet another credible witness helping the NCAA.

#EndThisThingAlready
#FireMarkEmmert

UPDATE : 5/10/13 : A federal judge in Miami denied Haith’s petition today, explaining that Team Haith couldn’t seek the info under Rule 27, but could get all the info from the bank should they choose to file a lawsuit, which isn’t off the table for the former Miami head basketball coach.