Gorney's Takeaways: Five-stars shine at adidas West Coast Invitational

CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position | Team

TAKE TWO: Can Ohio State sign three of the top four 2020 WRs?

TORRANCE, Calif. - The adidas West Coast Invitational was held Sunday at El Camino College and there were many top prospects in attendance. Here are some thoughts - along with some recruiting tidbits - from the event:

This was the first time I had an extensive look at five-star defensive end Sav’ell Smalls and there’s no doubt that he’s one of the best-looking prospects in the 2020 class. Not only does the Seattle (Wash.) Garfield prospect look the part, but he was playing linebacker for Team FSP and he moved so well for someone his size.

I don’t always like to make comparisons, but Smalls is a mix between former Mississippi State defensive end Montez Sweat and former Kentucky defensive end/linebacker Josh Allen, who should both be taken. high in next month’s NFL Draft. Smalls is bulked up, but he moves so well, can cover down the field and he plays with supreme confidence.

This spring and summer, Smalls plans to hit the road again to take visits - he mentioned Clemson, Alabama, Miami, Texas, Texas A&M, Florida and Florida State trips - and then he wants to narrow it down to a top six by late summer. He will then take his five officials and he will have Washington on the list but he doesn’t plan to take an official trip there since it’s close to home.

Five-star linebacker Justin Flowe was with his Premium team that took a tour of some Southeast schools in recent weeks and he came away very impressed with a few of them - Georgia, Clemson and Auburn, in particular.

The rumor floating around the tournament was that the hard-hitting linebacker from Upland, Calif., really liked Georgia the most and that for a split-second might have been thinking about a commitment. Cooler heads prevailed and Flowe will take his time with the recruiting process, but the Bulldogs definitely made an impression.

“I just love everything about Georgia,” Flowe said. “It was amazing.”

The next visit for five-star cornerback Kelee Ringo will be to Oklahoma and he’s especially excited to sit down and talk more with coach Lincoln Riley and cornerbacks coach Roy Manning. They talk a lot already and that’s one reason why the Scottsdale (Ariz.) Saguaro standout wants to get to Norman so badly.

“I’m on the phone with them constantly,” Ringo said.

Since his mother works for American Airlines, Ringo has the opportunity to fly for free often and he’s already taken full advantage of that perk, seeing a lot of schools nationally even before official visits. Ringo said he always wants to visit Oregon soon.

There’s no plan to narrow down the list anytime soon and the five-star admitted he probably won’t be ready to make a decision until either the early signing period or an all-star event.

Teriyon Cooper committed to Texas a few weeks ago and it was a big pledge because the four-star is a dynamic athlete with the ball in his hands who could have given the Longhorns a different look in the slot.

But the St. Louis (Mo.) Trinity Catholic standout backed off that commitment only days ago and said Sunday he felt he rushed the decision and didn’t want to close down his recruitment this soon.

“I didn’t want to be committed to a school when I’m still out here looking at other schools and seeing who might be better,” Cooper said.

As for upcoming trips, the four-star said he wants to see Oklahoma, LSU, Nebraska and Ohio State. He visited Illinois right before his decommitment but said that really didn’t play a huge role in his thinking. Cooper also said Texas is definitely still in the running.

When defensive backs coach Kerry Cooks left Oklahoma for Texas Tech, four-star cornerback Darion Green-Warren was not thrilled, especially since he committed to the Sooners and built such a strong relationship with Cooks.

Then the Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei prospect saw some new defensive back offers going out from Oklahoma and he decided to take a step back, decommit from the Sooners and investigate some other options.

Green-Warren visited Clemson and Georgia in the last few days and he loved both programs. Both the Bulldogs and the Tigers are definitely going to play a role moving forward. He also plans to visit USC later this month and he’s hoping to head to Oregon’s spring game, too.