Friedman's Takeaways: North Carolina's Showtime Camp
It wasn’t long ago when North Carolina’s elite summer camp, dubbed the Freak Show, drew enough star power to rival camps like Friday Night Lights at Florida or Ohio State. On Saturday, recruits from as far away as Oregon made the trip to Chapel Hill for Mack Brown’s version of the Freak Show, called the Showtime camp, and plenty of major prospects put their skills on display.
*****
MORE: USC pulls off the upset, lands four-star DB Jaeden Gould
CLASS OF 2022 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2023 RANKINGS: Rivals100
RIVALS TRANSFER TRACKER: Stories/coverage | Message board
RIVALS CAMP SERIES: Info/coverage on 2021 camp series
*****
THREE LINEMEN STEAL THE SHOW
Linemen one-on-ones are usually the most exciting portion of the camp and each side of the ball featured a few really impressive prospects. Monroe Freeling, Kaveon Freshwater and Rico Walker were the top performers regardless of position and they had some really competitive reps.
Freeling and Walker, both four-stars in the 2023 class, had seen similar competition before but had never faced off. They split their reps but each of them are as good as advertised. Freeling seemed to have added some solid mass since he competed at the Miami Rivals Camp this spring. Walker played linebacker at the Five-Star Challenge last week but he focused on rushing the passer on Saturday. If he were in college right now, Walker would probably be considered an outside linebacker in most schemes but he still has another two seasons of high school to play. If he gets much bigger, he’ll more than likely turn into a defensive end, which wouldn’t be a bad thing because rushing the passer seems very natural.
Freeling seems to favor Clemson but the Tar Heels, along with Notre Dame, will be serious contenders for him throughout the process. Walker’s recruitment could be speeding up a bit after a string of visits, which wouldn’t be a bad thing for North Carolina. There are some encouraging rumblings for the Tar Heels when it comes to this in-state prospect.
*****
FRESHWATER'S RECRUITMENT SHOULD HEAT UP
Freshwater hasn’t been to many camps so he really surprised everybody on Saturday. He’s just under 6-foot-3, 240-pounds and was much quicker than any of the offensive linemen. Freshwater, the younger brother of East Carolina defensive lineman Traveon Freshwater, showcased his speed, balance, and strength when he took an outside route to the quarterback. There were a lot of times when Freshwater would take a jab step one way before quickly changing directions to go the other way. Most of the time this move was way too sudden for the offensive lineman to get a hand on him and Freshwater was strong enough and too low for anybody to push him off his line to the quarterback. There isn’t much happening in his recruitment right now but that should change for the 2022 edge defender.
*****
OTHER LINEMEN IMPRESS
A few other linemen stood out in the crowd too. On the offensive side of the ball, Charlie Symonds, a 2023 prospect from Connecticut, is a lean 6-foot-7, 265-pounds and showed a lot of promise. Current Tar Heel 2022 commit Trevyon Green is coming along nicely. He continues to drop bad weight and is becoming a more technically sound linemen.
The same could be said of Joshua Miller, Green's current teammate at Chester (Va.) Life Christian Academy. The 2023 prospect has performed well throughout this spring and summer and earned an offer from the Tar Heels for his performance on Saturday.
Connor Drake, an in-state 2023 prospect, also flashed at various points. After Walker and Freshwater, Jamaal Jarrett was the next best defensive lineman. He played with a lot of energy and was too quick for most of the interior linemen he faced. Jarrett also jumped over to offense for a couple reps but had mixed results.
*****
SKILL POSITION PROSPECTS IMPRESS AS WELL
There were some other players at the skill positions that impressed as well. Quarterbacks Tad Hudson and Conner Harrell each had their moments. Harrell and his family appeared to spend a lot of time talking to various members of the staff at the end of the camp. Running back Makai Hughes was the best of the backs in attendance and he is likely moving up UNC's board. Tar Heel commits Tychaun Chapman and Tayon Holloway worked out for the coaches on Saturday too.
Holloway, a Rivals100 cornerback prospect, has kept a low profile since his spring season ended so it was nice to see him against some new competition that could actually test him. Chapman had recently taken a visit to Maryland and wanted to come back to Chapel Hill to work out on Saturday. He has added some much needed mass to his frame and he remains as explosive as ever.
Defensive backs Braylon Johnson, a 2023 prospect, and Kaleb Beasley, a 2024 prospect, are two more names people should remember. Alex "Sonny" Styles, the No. 26 prospect in the 2023 Rivals100, looked excellent in drills and seemed to really enjoy taking direction from defensive backs coach Dre Bly. Lorenzo Styles, Alex's father who played in the NFL for six seasons after an impressive career at Ohio State, was in attendance as well. Bly and Styles were teammates for the St. Louis Rams. Styles and his family are on a road trip that features stops at Florida State, Alabama and a few others.