Dallas Elite 11: Top storylines
The Elite 11 tour kicks off this Saturday in Arlington, Texas at Cowboy Stadium. The top junior and sophomore passers from around the region will be in attendance as they hope to earn a spot in the invitation-only final event of the summer in Los Angeles.
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Here are five intriguing storylines heading into the weekend.
The best of the best in attendance
There are five Rivals250 quarterback prospects in the state of Texas for the class of 2013 and all but one, Colleyville Heritage's Cody Thomas, are signed up to compete on Saturday. Five-star Texas commit Tyrone Swoopes of Whitewright is the headliner and could answer a lot of questions about his potential as a quarterback and not just an athlete, but Texas A&M commit Kohl Stewart of Houston St. Pius, J.T. Barrett of Wichita Falls Rider and Kenny Hill of Southlake Carroll will all be there as well. Thomas is a top baseball prospect and likely has a game on Saturday but he is actually on the roster for Sunday's Nike Camp so we could get a chance to see him after all.
Big-time traveler
Warren (Mich.) De La Salle quarterback Shane Morris is ranked as the No. 2 pro-style quarterback in the country and the No. 16 overall prospect and has been committed to Michigan for almost an entire year. Needless to say, there is not much for the 6-foot-3, 183-pound junior left to prove. That did not stop him from signing up to attend a camp over 1,200 miles from home for the chance to go against some of the other top prospects in the country.
Others making the long journey as well
Morris is not the only well-known prospect to be signed up for this weekend's event. Salt Lake City (Utah) Cottonwood's Cooper Bateman and Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman's Jarrett Solomon are both Rivals250 members and are both on the roster for Saturday. Christopher Laviano of Hicksville (N.Y.) Holy Trinity holds a Rutgers offer and will be making the long trip to Texas as will Terre Haute (Ind.) South Vigo's Danny Etling. Alpharetta (Ga.) High quarterback Josh Dobbs holds a Boston College offer but comes to Dallas looking for more. Austin Allen of Fayetteville (Ark.) is the highest-rated three-star quarterback and Ben Oberste of Salisaw (Okla.) also holds a pair of offers.
Young guns representing
Click Here to view this Link.Though the event's main focus will be on the all the talent in the class of 2013, the class of 2014 will have several prominent members in attendance as well. Justice HansenClick Here to view this Link. of Edmond (Okla.) Santa Fe already holds several offers and should find himself a national recruit next year. Denton (Texas) Guyer's Jerrod HeardClick Here to view this Link. also has a potential to be a national name as do a pair of prospects from the Houston area in Ronald MonroeClick Here to view this Link. of Richmond (Texas) Bush and Aaron SharpClick Here to view this Link. from Humble (Texas) Summer Creek.
Looking to make their names
Though the "Big Five" Rivals250 prospects in the state of Texas get a lot of attention, other players are looking to make their names known as well to prove it is more than just a top-heavy year in the state. Devante Kincade of Dallas Skyline, Damion Hobbs of Cedar Hill and Zach Allen of Temple all hold multiple offers. Chris Johnson of Bryan is a Baylor commit and, since his school's offense did not pass much, is looking to show himself to be a true quarterback. Austin Henyon of Fort Worth Trinity Valley and Richard Lagow of Plano could be close to their first offers as well.
Brian Perroni can be reached at perroni@yahoo-inc.com. You can follow him on Twitter @bperrroni.
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