Five-Star Challenge turns prospects into recruiters
ATLANTA – The instructions given to Jake Allen were simple.
A Florida quarterback commit, Allen was assigned a bit of extra work for this year’s Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge Presented by Under Armour. The decree came from the Gators’ coaching staff and it was to the point
“[Florida offensive coordinator Doug] Nussmeier just told me to find Donovan Peoples-Jones when I got here and stick with him and stay on him for the entire time I’m here. That’s the plan.”
The strategy’s effectiveness, however, is yet to be determined. One of the country’s top wide receivers, Peoples-Jones has his share of offers and a long list of suitors. Peoples-Jones has yet to name a front-runner and is heavily involved with roughly 11 programs. Still, Allen is undeterred. He plans to leave nothing in the tank when it comes to making Florida’s case.
“Jake has been really trying to get to know me and telling me what he likes about Florida,” Peoples-Jones said. “We’ve talked a lot, but there are other quarterbacks talking to me about other schools, too.”
Of course the situation is not limited to Allen or Florida. Player-on-player recruiting is as much a part of elite camps as post routes. The Alabama camp has been one of the more vocal groups when it comes public persuasion. Most times, you can hear the roar from across the room.
On Saturday morning, Bama-bound linebacker Vandarius Cowan wandered around drills shouting “Roll Tide” to just about anyone that would listen, paying special attention to 2018 defensive back Al Blades, as he interrupted an interview to remind Blades of Alabama’s existence.
“He’s all Bama. Roll Tide,” Cowan yelled, cutting a reporter off mid-question.
Cowan has even coined a recruiting rallying cry of sorts. Twenty-four hours into the event, it’s spread quickly throughout the camp.
“Savages want to play with savages,” said Tide offensive line commit Alex Leatherwood. “I feel like that’s all we need to say.”
The recruiting noise is constant. In some ways, it functions as a soundtrack to the weekend. Some of the recruiting pitches come with coach-issued lists and instructions from college programs. Some happens off the cuff.
Still, the chatter never dies totally. There’s always, at the very least, a hum.
“There is a guy here, I don’t even know his name,” said five-star wide receiver Trevon Grimes says. “He has Georgia gear on and keeps talking to me about Georgia and asking me what I like. Of course, I hear a lot from the Ohio State guys like [Brendon White]. It’s been them and Georgia the most here.”
The buzz isn’t unique to the Five-Star Challenge. It’s been a part of the camp circuit for years. Roughly eight months before 2017 prospects sign their letters of intent, the situation has become commonplace if not inconvenient.
When four-star running back Cam Akers, a former Alabama commit, addresses the situation, he does so with a pronounced shoulder shrug.
“It’s been all about Alabama and Auburn for me here,” Akers said. “It happens a lot and it started happening as soon as I got here. I kind of expected it though, it’s part of what happens when we all get together.”