This year’s All-American Bowl in San Antonio on Jan. 5 features a new title sponsor, but at 19 years is the longest-running high school football all-star game of its kind. This 2019 edition will feature approximately 100 of the top high school football prospects in the country, and these five college programs will be watching closest of all.
MORE: Prospects who could earn a fifth star | Storylines to watch
ALABAMA
Unsurprisingly the No. 1 ranked recruiting class in 2019 will feature one of the strongest contingent of committed prospects, with four recent signees and one commitment, slated to play in the game. Quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa will be joined by five-star running back Trey Sanders, five-star defensive lineman Antonio Alfano and four-star linebacker Christian Harris from the Crimson Tide’s recent signing class, as well as defensive lineman Byron Young who has been committed to Alabama since the summer but decided not to sign in the early period.
However, Alabama is also in on as many of the uncommitted or unsigned prospects playing in the All-American Bowl as any other school. They continue to be major players for Rivals100 prospects Khris Bogle and Marcus Banks, who will be playing for the East team, as well as four-star California linebacker Henry To’oto’o, who is playing on the West team.
GEORGIA
Kirby Smart’s program is on the heels of Alabama in the 2019 class rankings, trying to overtake the Crimson Tide and win their second straight national recruiting title. Whether Georgia is able to accomplish the feat could be determined by what happens with a couple prospects expected to announce their decisions on the Jan. 5 broadcast of the All-American Bowl.
Five-star wide receiver Jadon Haselwood was once committed to the Bulldogs and will announce Saturday with Miami and Oklahoma also strongly in the hunt. Georgia is also battling Miami head-to-head for Rivals100 cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, who is scheduled to announce on the telecast.
Beyond the uncommitted prospects, Georgia also has four incoming freshman who recently signed their letters of intent – five-star defensive end Nolan Smith, four-star defensive end Travon Walker, four-star wide receiver Dominick Blaylock and four-star offensive tackle Xavier Truss – on the East roster for Saturday’s game.
LSU
The school with the greatest representation in the 2019 edition of the All-American Bowl will be LSU, which features among its seven representatives the No. 1 player in the class, cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. This week will be Stingley’s final performance stating his case (or defending, depending on how you look at it), as the class’ top prospect heading into the final rankings update for 2019 later in the month.
LSU currently has the No. 4 ranked class in 2019 with just 19 prospects signed in the early period. Joining Stingley in San Antonio from that group will be five-star offensive tackle Kardell Thomas, four-star running back Tyrion Davis, four-star linebacker Marcel Brooks, four-star defensive tackle Siaki Ika, three-star offensive tackle Charles Turner and long snapper Quentin Skinner.
NOTRE DAME
With NBC being a broadcast partner of both the All-American Bowl and Notre Dame football, the game has a long history of showcasing some of the Fighting Irish’s future greats, including Tom Zbikowski, Michael Floyd and Jaylon Smith. This year a total of four prospects from Notre Dame’s No. 11 ranked 2019 recruiting class are headed to San Antonio. They are four-star defensive end Nana Osafo-Mensah, four-star offensive tackle Andrew Kristofic, four-star safety Kyle Hamilton and three-star punter Jay Bramblett.
Notre Dame may not be in on any of the in-game hat ceremonies, but they are heavily involved with several unsigned prospects playing for the West team. Four-star tight end Isaiah Foskey is one of the Irish’s top targets remaining in 2019, as is Hawaiian four-star offensive tackle Enokk Vimahi. Four-star California athlete Asa Turner is currently committed to Washington, but chose not to sign in the early period and Notre Dame’s continued presence in his recruitment has been cited as a primary reason he remains unsigned.
OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma has a top ten class in 2019 that already features two five-star wide receivers, and could add a third five-star receiver to that mix before the class is complete. The Sooners should see their hat in front of five-star wide receiver Jadon Haselwood when he makes his college selection during the All-American Bowl telecast on Saturday, and the Sooners have generated a lot of late momentum in this recruitment.
While Haselwood will be suiting up for the East team Saturday, four-star offensive tackle Enokk Vimahi, who is also still in-play for Oklahoma, will be practicing all week with future Sooners Spencer Rattler, EJ Ndoma-Ogar, Stacey Wilkins, Austin Stogner and Trejan Bridges. Each of those prospects signed with Oklahoma in the early period and will have plenty of time to pitch their program to Vimahi during their week in San Antonio.
