Canes? Gators? Who won the recruiting battle for 4-star Mandarin DB Hylton (Drake) Stubbs?

Out: Southern California. In: The southern tip of Florida.

That's the change in store for Hylton (Drake) Stubbs, after Mandarin's four-star rising senior safety committed on Thursday to play college football for Miami, choosing the Canes over Florida in a ceremony streamed on Instagram.

Ranked by all major national recruiting services as a top-10 safety, and entering the spring eighth in the USA TODAY Florida Network Top 100, Stubbs selected the Canes ahead of more than two dozen Football Bowl Subdivision offers. In the end, the contest for his commitment turned into a head-to-head battle between Mario Cristobal's Hurricanes and Billy Napier's Gators, after Stubbs took official visits to both schools within the past month.

Stubbs made his Canes commitment one week after becoming the third mega-recruit in June to de-commit from the Big Ten (yes, Big Ten) Trojans, following Georgia-based five-star defensive linemen Isaiah Gibson and Justus Terry.

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As a junior, Stubbs earned first-team All-First Coast recognition with 97 tackles, plus six interceptions, two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. Also proficient as a blitzer and a run stopper, he also recorded two and a half sacks and eight and a half tackles for loss.

Stubbs, who teamed up with Penn State signees A.J. Belgrave-Shorter and Jon Mitchell on a secondary that helped power the Mustangs to the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 4M championship game, now stands out as a leader in a young defensive backfield loaded with prospects in the 2026 class. Shareef Jackson, Brody Jennings and Tamajh Mitchell — previously at Raines, Sandalwood and Bartram Trail, respectively — are among the defensive prospects on the recruiting radar to announce their transfers to Mandarin since the 2023 season's end.

The Mustangs, who move into District 2-6A following the demise of the FHSAA's Metro-Suburban system, kick off the regular season on Aug. 23 against Creekside.

What does Stubbs' commitment mean for Miami?

For Cristobal and the Canes, the arrival of yet another nationally-rated prospect — Stubbs is Miami's 11th four-star commit for 2025 — further fuels the turnaround effort for a program still seeking its first conference title since joining the ACC 20 years ago. A 7-6 team last year, Miami last won a bowl game after the 2016 season while under Mark Richt.

Already 14th in the 247Sports recruiting rankings for 2025 even before Stubbs' commitment, Miami leaped to 11th in the updated standings, although prominent programs including Florida State, Texas, Southern California and reigning champion Michigan have multiple major prospects already on board and may rise significantly in the coming months.

For the Gators, meanwhile, the quest to assemble a strong 2025 class continues.

As of Thursday, Florida stood 67th in the 247Sports recruiting rankings with only eight players committed, although four (running back Waltez Clark of Tampa Plant, defensive tackle Jeramiah McCloud of Gadsden County, wide receiver Joshua Moore of West Broward and edge rusher Jalen Wiggins of Tallahassee Rickards) hold four-star ratings in the 247Sports composite.