re: Class of 2018 Recruiting MEGATHREAD: So Long Old Friend Edition

quote:

---

The Elite Georgia Showcase, presented by Elite Talent Football, has had some impressive talent come through the last several years with ten U.S. Army and Under Armour All-Americans in the 2017 class having attended the camp, and this year should be no different.

The camp takes place on February 10th and there will be a middle school portion as well as a high school portion.

Some of that past talent will return to speak to the next crop as Jamyest Williams, cornerback at South Carolina and an Elite Talent alum will be on hand. New York Giants cornerback Janoris Jenkins and Erik Richards, national director for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, will also be speaking at the camp. Coaches include Dwight Johnson and Clay Mack.

Among the top Georgia prospects that will be in attendance is Logansville (Ga.) Grayson junior cornerback Jalen Alexander, who has offers from Auburn, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and many other major programs. Composite four-star D.J. Turner has offers from Alabama, Auburn, Clemson and many more. Lanett (Ala.) athlete Trikweze Bridges holds seven offers including Alabama and Florida.

Junior offensive tackle Pierce Quick made a name for himself at this camp last year, and returns this year as an Alabama commit.

Many juniors from Detroit are coming. Quarterbacks Sam Johnson and Dequan Finn hold FBS offers as do defensive backs Marvin Grant, a four-star, Ahmad Gardner and Elijah Griffin. Linebacker Rich Miller has a Syracuse offer. Wide receiver Malcomb Baker, defensive tackle Jalen Bell, and fellow bigs James Drain and Rachon Gulley are all being recruited by a variety of programs and will be there as well.

Coming up from Ohio are wide receivers Tre Radford, Nasir Rashid, and Devon Fox.

A couple of prospects from Kentucky will be there. Speedy slot Wandale Robinson already holds a good list of offers and sophomore Izayah Cummings will eventually have them as well. Linebacker Justice Thompson is a prospect to watch after recording 111 tackles in the fall.

In addition to Cummings, an extremely impressive collection of class of 2020 talent is expected to be there. T Lee, Dawson Ellington, Rashad Torrence and Jalen Huff are all defensive back prospects who hold major offers. Wide receiver Javon Baker, an early class of 2020 four-star by 247Sports, holds offers from Kentucky, Michigan and South Carolina. Running back Miles Friday has 21 offers to his name. ATH Kristian Story holds an Alabama offer.

Detroit King's Rashawn Williams is one of the top 2020 wideouts in the Midwest and Oak Park (Mich.) offensive lineman Justin Rogers is one of the top overall prospects in that class. Wide receiver/defensive back Lemuel Neely-Watley and cornerback Andre Seldon are two more Detroit kids who had good sophomore season and hold FBS offers in the 2020 class.

---

quote:

---

Chris Kirschner seems to think Purdy is very likely to commit to Bama. But it seems to me Purdy may opt to go elsewhere, such as UCF, BSU OR ISU, if he feels it offers him a better chance of being the starting QB.

---

quote:

---

I hope we only sign one more WR and it is Ross.

---

quote:

---

As final rankings begin to filter in from the industry, the soon-to-be-final rankings in the recruiting industry-generated 247Sports Composite are taking shape.

Monday’s update saw several moves in the five-star range and two new additions to the overall top 10 in Penn State wide receiver signee Justin Shorter who moved up five spots to No. 7, and Tampa (Fla.) Berkeley Prep offensive tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere who jumped from No. 18 to No. 8.

The 247Sports Crystal Ball currently favors the Florida Gators (56 percent total predictions) over Alabama (22 percent) and Notre Dame (22 percent) for Petit-Frere.

Four prospects added a fifth star in the latest update, including Mission Viejo (Calif.) High cornerback Olaijah Griffin (No. 25), Penn State running back signee Ricky Slade (No. 27), Texas safety signee and U.S. Army All-American Bowl game MVP Caden Sterns (No. 28) and Clemson wide receiver signee Derion Kendrick (No. 29).

Griffin, a former UCLA commit, recently officially visited USC and the Trojans hold a lead on the Crystal Ball over Tennessee.

Dropping out of the 247Sports Composite five-star range were Ohio State running back signee Jaelen Gill and Lancaster (Calif.) Antelope Valley wide receiver Devon Williams.

Tight battle for top class

The updates to the 247Sports Composite player rankings also caused some movement in the 247Sports Team Recruiting Rankings.

With more industry rankings updates still to come and several potential class-changing commitments between now and National Signing Day on Feb. 7, the stage is set for a battle to the finish for the nation’s top class.

Current No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Ohio State each added points to their class totals and there is now just 0.02 points separating the Bulldogs (309.92 class points with 22 total commits) and the Buckeyes (309.90/23 commits).

Georgia’s remaining targets include the nation’s No. 11-ranked prospect in cornerback Tyson Campbell and the Bulldogs own 65 percent of his Crystal Ball predictions. No. 63-ranked Rasheed Walker is among the prospects Ohio State is still chasing, and the four-star offensive tackle visited Columbus over the weekend and picked up multiple Crystal Ball predictions in favor of the Buckeyes.

Clemson jumped ahead of Notre Dame for the No. 8 spot in the rankings and a further drop for Florida quarterback signee Emory Jones contributed to the Gators’ class falling a spot to No. 16 just behind Oregon. But Dan Mullen’s 15-player class is not far behind the Ducks and No. 14 Michigan with five fewer total commits than each of those classes.

---