Top-75 RB Ousmane Kromah has special connection to Miami assistant Matt Merritt

Leesburg (Ga.) Lee County four-star running back Ousmane Kromah has built relationships with most of the staffs heavily recruiting him, but his personal connection with Miami running backs coach Matt Merritt goes beyond the surface.

The No. 68 overall prospect in the On3 Industry Ranking, No. 4 running back in the class and No. 10 recruit in the state of Georgia has locked in a May 31 official visit to Miami before visiting Florida State, Florida and Georgia, and his interest in the Hurricanes has been about more than X’s and O’s. Kromah has been able to relate to Merritt’s background and experiences off the field, too.

“Coach Merritt, we’ve got a lot in common,” Kromah said. “He’s Liberian. My family is Liberian. He understands some of my struggles, and he gets the connection. It kind of helped he was one of the first coaches (to arrive at Lee County for an in-school visit) when he came that day too, not gonna lie. But the reason why (we’re close) is he understands my struggles and stuff, some stuff that I’ve been through being Liberian and things like that.

“And then, he’s a good guy. He’s a cool, calm guy off the field, but when he’s on the field he coaches hard. That was one of the reasons I wanted to get out there early (this summer).”

Kromah visited Miami for the first time earlier this spring to watch a practice and has held substantial interest in the Hurricanes since the start of the new year, particularly since Merritt was hired as Miami’s new running backs coach in February. Analyst Benedick Hyppolite has also been heavily involved in Kromah’s recruitment as the Hurricanes look to add a second running back in the 2025 cycle, but Merritt has been a major reason for his continued interest in Miami.

Kromah has remained interested in Auburn and South Carolina and is hoping to squeeze in an official visit to Tennessee, although he isn’t close to making a decision. He said plans to commit during or shortly after his senior season and doesn’t want to slam the door on any schools prematurely.

Kromah added he wants to lock in with one school once he makes his announcement and doesn’t want to rush.

CaneSport’s Take

Miami is still aggressively pursuing Kromah, Byron Louis, Jasper Parker and Shekai Mills-Knight in its 2025 running backs class as it looks to pair a second back with four-star commit Girard Pringle. All four are expected to take official visits to Miami this summer and would be tremendous complements to Pringle, although the clock is slowly ticking as different backs announce commitments.

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