UCF visit reaffirms Maldonado's commitment: 'This is where I need to be'
Following his weekend official visit, Miguel Maldonado says his UCF commitment is stronger than ever.
The Lakeland (Fla.) offensive tackle was the first high school pledge of the Gus Malzahn era, committing to the Knights in March just a few days after receiving his offer. He dropped by for a couple practices during the spring, but Bounce House Weekend represented his first face-to-face contact with his future coaches.
Maldonado loved every minute of it.
"It was great," Maldonado said. "It was probably the most fun I've had in a while, to be honest. It made me even more confident about my decision of committing to UCF."
As for the visit activities, Maldonado gave them an A+. There was a Friday night social at the stadium with players and coaches and Saturday's itinerary included a scavenger hunt and eating competition.
"We got robbed of a victory in the eating competition," Maldonado said. "It was cake, pie and watermelon and each four-man had to pick three guys to eat each food as fast as they can. I didn't personally participate because I have braces. I let the other players do it which was Jack (Streubing), Payton (Kirkland) and (Marcus Peterson). Jack did the pie, (Kirkland) did the watermelon. We 100 percent won the pie and watermelon, then we got robbed. I don't want to say it, but there was a little bit of cheating going on with food disappearing."
The culinary offerings at the catered meals also impressed.
"It was a lot of food," Maldonado said. "Pasta, fish, shrimp, steak. It was really good."
Maldonado felt he really connected with the coaches. He already had a close bond with assistant offensive line coach Caleb Pickrell, who previously coached him at Lakeland. He loved getting to know offensive line coach Herb Hand and Malzahn.
"It was great to have a personal feel in real life of what they're like," Maldonado said. "It was great meeting up with Coach Pick again. It's been a while. I got to take photos with him on Friday night. I got a great feel for all the coaches. Coach Pick is obviously great. Coach Hand was great. I can already tell he's a great coach because he was helping me with some things. It only took a few minutes for him to help me with my offensive line skills.
"Coach Malzahn was great. He's a great guy. I like his mindset on UCF. I got to meet his wife too. My mom seemed to take an interest in his wife. They're pretty cool now, I think they're friends. It was great getting to talk to Coach Malzahn in person and see what he was like. Overall, I'm loving it."
Adrian Medley served as his player host for the weekend.
"He was a great player host and made it a lot of fun for us," Maldonado said. "I was mostly with him, a d-tackle (Cam) Goode and Chidoziri (Maghiro). Other players too. I don't remember all the names. I met so many. That was actually my favorite part of the whole visit, being with the players on the team. They got to show me what they're like and what it will be like when I get here."
Maldonado focused on basketball during the early part of his high school career, then Pickrell convinced him to play football prior to his junior season in 2020. The rest is history.
"Basically, my whole life I'd never played football," Maldonado said. "I stuck to my three sports, which was soccer, baseball and basketball. My top two was baseball and basketball. I played baseball at a high level through eighth grade, then I played basketball in eighth grade and fell in love with it. I dropped baseball for basketball. Going into my junior year, I got tired of Coach Pick asking me for three years to come out and play. My basketball coach told me to try it out. I went out for it and it was actually a lot of fun, so I just stuck with it."
College coaches immediately become enamored with the 6-foot-6, 320-pounder's potential.
"I think things started to click for me before the season when I earned a starting spot on the team," Maldonado said. "And even before the season, Coach Pick was getting me recruiting interest. I hadn't even played a game yet. Coach was sending colleges video of conditioning and how fast I was running. That's when I realized I had a huge chance in this because I had colleges already looking at me. After my first game against Lake Gibson, I thought I played great, and then I got an offer from Virginia Tech. That's when it all clicked."
Also to offer were Iowa State, FIU, South Florida, UConn, West Virginia, Appalachian State and ECU. Others would have undoubtedly followed suit, but Maldonado shut things down following his March commitment to UCF.
"I was already looking at UCF, then Coach Pick told me before he left (Lakeland) that he got a job offer and he obviously has to take it because it's a big opportunity for him," Maldonado said. "He started telling me about the school. Once I got my offer, I started looking into it. It only took me a couple days. After talking to Coach Hand and Coach Malzahn, I realized, yeah, this is the place I need to be.
"The visit I just went on, it was definitely like a refresher. This is where I need to be. I met the players and had a great time with them. I felt like I instantly clicked with them. I like their personalities, all of them. It seems to fit me. I like these types of people. Especially in the photoshoot. When you go on a visit, you either like it and it fits or it doesn't. If you put on a jersey, it's like you belong there. That's how I felt over the weekend. I hated leaving. I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay."
Maldonado may not be the only Lakeland player headed to UCF next year. He was accompanied on the visit by his friend and teammate Keahnist Thompson.
"I think there's definitely a chance (he comes with me to UCF)," Maldonado said. "I got to talk to him a little bit. He liked being there and had a lot of fun. I would love that. I would have somebody I know with me, somebody I know who works hard. It would be a lot of fun."
Living about an hour away from campus, expect Maldonado to be a frequent visitor until he officially reports about a year from now.
"I'm definitely coming back soon," he said. "We already talked about that. I'll be back a couple times in the summer. After that, I'll be there for their first game."
