Xavier Restrepo of the Miami Hurricanes declares for the NFL Draft after a record-setting UM career

While most of the No. 13 Miami Hurricanes’ key players are expected to play in Saturday’s Pop-Tarts Bowl against No. 18 Iowa State to finish the 2024 season, one notable leader will be missing.

Fifth-year senior wide receiver Xavier Restrepo, who has rewrote the Hurricanes’ record book over the past two seasons, announced on his personal X page (formerly Twitter) on Saturday that he is declaring for the NFL Draft.

“It has been a lifelong dream since I was a little 5-year-old child to play in the National Football League,” Restrepo wrote in the post, in which he also thanked “my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” his family Teammates and the Hurricanes thanks fans. “Now I believe it’s time for me to make my dreams and aspirations come true!”

Restrepo finished the season with 69 catches for 1,127 yards and 11 touchdowns en route to being named a first-team All-American by the America Football Coaches Association and a second-team All-American by Sporting News, the Associated Press and the Football Writers Association Team to be named America.

He set the UM career records for receptions (200) and receiving yards (2,844) and is fourth all-time in school history in receiving touchdowns (21). A native of Coconut Creek, Restrepo is also the only player in Hurricanes history to have multiple 1,000-yard seasons.

However, Restrepo wasn’t the only receiver the Hurricanes were missing on Saturday. Miami will also be without Isaiah Horton, who entered the transfer portal, and redshirt fifth-year junior Sam Brown, who like Restrepo declared for the NFL Draft on Saturday.

With those three players out, the Hurricanes will be without three of their top five receivers of the season, a trio that accounted for 2,252 of the team’s 4,311 receiving yards – or 52.2 percent of the team’s receiver production – and 18 of the 38 receiving yards -Touchdowns of the team was responsible. Senior receiver Jacolby George (728 yards, seven touchdowns since Saturday) and redshirt junior tight end Elijah Arroyo (526 yards, six touchdowns since Saturday) are the only UM players with more than 200 receiving yards participating in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.

Two other Hurricanes were noticeably missing Saturday, namely cornerbacks Damari Brown and Daryl Porter Jr.

Brown struggled with injuries throughout the season and played in only two games – the season opener against Florida and the regular season finale against Syracuse. Porter is a fifth grader.

This story will be updated.