2027 RB Amari Cannon Talks UMass Pledge

2027 Pennsylvania running back Amari Cannon explains why he chose the Minutemen.

When it came time to make a decision, Amari Cannon kept coming back to the same thing.

The relationships.

After taking official visits to Temple and UMass in consecutive weekends, the 2027 Pennsylvania running back committed to the Minutemen on June 20, giving head coach Joe Harasymiak another important addition to the program’s future.

“Just the relationship with the coaches,” Cannon told Minuteman Command when asked what separated UMass from the rest of the field.

The Downingtown West High School standout also bought into the vision Harasymiak has laid out since arriving in Amherst.

“I just trust everything that Coach H is putting together right now,” Cannon said. “I feel like the team, it’s been through some struggles, but I feel like this year they’re just going to be better.”

That belief stemmed largely from the honesty Harasymiak showed throughout the recruiting process.

Rather than trying to gloss over UMass’ recent lack of success, Cannon appreciated the way the Minutemen head coach addressed it directly.

“His game plan, how he’s real,” Cannon said. “He doesn’t try to hide from the fact that they have been losing for a couple years and how he’s just trying to put everything together and put the right pieces together.”

The relationship with running backs coach Jeremy Larkin played an important role in the decision as well.

Cannon pointed to Larkin believing in him from the start and consistently showing confidence in what he could bring to the program.

“Coach Larkin, he trusted me from the beginning,” Cannon said. “He put a lot of trust in me. He believed in what I could do and how I could help the team.”

That connection ultimately stood apart from the other schools involved in his recruitment.

“I just feel like that relationship between me and him was something that no coach had with me,” he said.

UMass also presented a vision for how Cannon could be utilized within the offense.

The Minutemen see the 6-foot-1, 185-pounder as more than a traditional running back and believe his versatility can create matchup problems for opposing defenses.

“They said that my ability to catch the ball out of the backfield and being able to not only play in the backfield, but also play in the slot as a slot receiver would help the team a lot and be more spread,” Cannon said.

The Pennsylvania native held double-digit scholarship offers and seriously considered Temple after taking an official visit to Philadelphia on June 12. But after making the trip to Amherst the following weekend, UMass ultimately emerged as the choice.

Now that the decision is made, Cannon is relieved to have the recruiting process behind him.

“It feels pretty good. You don’t have to worry about it in the future, figuring where you’re trying to go. Doing it now, it was just big for me.”

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