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Wildcat journey: RB Tovani Mizell focuses on mission ahead

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Naji Tobias New Era Prep Staff Writer

DAVIE – When Tovani Mizell ended his college football recruiting process on Wednesday (June 21), he made it be known where he stands at now.

With 34 scholarship offers to choose from, the 6-foot, 210-pound running back went with Kentucky (Power 5; SEC) as his destination for the next level.

Mizell is now considered a hard Kentucky verbal commit by 247Sports. He received his offer from Kentucky on April 20 and took his official visit there on the weekend of June 16-18.

The consensus four-star running back (ESPN 300, Rivals, 247Sports, and On3) spoke on the reasoning for his final decision.

“The relationship that I developed with Coach [Jay] Boulware & Coach [Liam] Coen is what led to me committing,” Mizell said. “Also, I really like the University of Kentucky as a football program and academic school. The campus was really nice, but what stood out was that everything (facility wise) was in one central location. The stadium, practice fields, indoor facility, locker rooms, coaches offices, and training room was all onsite. They have everything I’m looking for (from academics to next level coaching, to state of the art facilities) to prepare me for the next level.”

Now with the Kentucky verbal commitment already set in stone, we expect Mizell to officially sign his letter of intent with the SEC school December 20 (Early National Signing Day) or February 7, 2024 (National Signing Day).

As Mizell transitions from the college recruiting circuit to his upcoming season, it behooves us to highlight his high school journey to date.

Starting out at Stranahan as a freshman, the nation’s No. 297-ranked overall player in the Class of 2024 moved on to Cardinal Newman (West Palm Beach) for his sophomore season.

At Newman, he teamed up with close friend and classmate Davi Belfort (2024; Virginia Tech verbal commit) to parlay his great experience into the tune of 1,097 total yards (616 rushing yards, 481 receiving yards) and 14 total touchdowns.

Also at Cardinal Newman, he helped the school’s 4×100 relay team win the Class 1A state championship in the spring of 2022.

But the summer of 2022 represented a big change for Mizell. He and his family relocated from South Florida to Maryland, which would result in him playing high school football for his junior year at DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsvillle, Md.

“We moved there for my dad (Travis Mizell) to write several books with his publisher that will be released in a couple months,” Mizell said. “I have some books coming out as well.”

This past season worked out for Mizell, as he rushed for 1,080 yards.

“Playing at DeMatha was a great experience,” Mizell said. “Football wise, by playing in one of the toughest conferences in the country, it was good for my development. The running back system I was in translates well to the collegiate game. It was a pure run-based offense.”

Not long after the 2022 fall season ended, Mizell and his family decided to go back home to South Florida. He shared about the move and the reasoning for it.

“We decided as a family to return home so that me and my brother could have an opportunity to play together my senior year,” Mizell said.

Tovani’s younger brother is Trevion Mizell, who is a cornerback at Western – the program that both Tovani (2024) and Trevion (2026) will be playing for together this upcoming fall season. 

Here is the other reason why Tovani chose Western as his fourth and final high school football destination.

“I have had a relationship with Coach Rak [Western head coach Adam Ratkevich] since I was in little league. And I have an older sister that graduated from Western, so I am familiar with the school,” Tovani said. “Coach Rak is a great coach and they play in the highest classification in the state (Class 4M). I came back to help the team to compete for a state title, playing a national schedule.”

Tovani will be reunited with Davi again at Western. Davi played at Newman as a freshman before reclassifying from 2025 to 2024 during his time last season with Gulliver Prep as a sophomore/junior.

Both will graduate high school together in 2024.

Photo credits: Mr. Phootball (@mrphootball) – Twitter

“It feels great to team back up for our senior year,” Tovani said of Davi, who stands at 5-foot-10, 185 pounds and is a three-star quarterback with 29 total offers. “We actually go back farther than CN (Cardinal Newman). We have unfinished business to tend to.”

Tovani revealed his senior season goals at Western.

“My individual and team goals would be to have my best season ever and to help my team win a state championship for the first time in school history,” Tovani said.

Photo credit: Provided photo

Western’s first regular season is part of the Broward County National High School Showcase in Week 1. It is a home game against Milton (Ga.) on Thursday, Aug. 24 at 7:30 p.m.

The remainder of Western’s regular season schedule has not been released yet. 

Can Western win the District 13-4M title and take down a multitude of teams in the 4M-Region 4 playoffs in November, including odds-on favorite and defending 4M state champion Columbus (Miami)?

We will find out in the coming months.

But for now, let us all celebrate Tovani and what he has accomplished to date. He certainly deserved his honors and more.

PHOTO CREDITS: Kentucky Football and Mr. Phootball (@mrphootball) – Twitter

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