Advertisement
football Edit

Junior Day brings out stars, new names

The Lone Star State loves to show that it’s the king of high school football so it’s no surprise the two Rivals100 Junior Day events in Texas produced more than 200 players in attendance.
The event Sunday in Dallas at Southern Methodist University had a great turnout including several players that are already house-hold names and some new faces that will become hot targets over the next few months.
Advertisement
One of the already house-hold names with recruiting fans is Fort Worth Dunbar athlete D.J. Davis. On film, Davis tears it up at quarterback but after comparing himself to some of the other athletes at the Junior Day he said he can envision himself at safety.
“I think that’s where I’m going to end up,” Davis said. “I would like a shot on offense, but I know that my future is probably on defense.”
And after listening to the presentation from Rivals100 Junior Day lead speaker Joe Hornback, Davis said he came away with a few things that will help him throughout the recruiting process.
“I think the biggest thing that I learned is to always say thank you,” he said. “I also think that I’ve figured out how I’m going to handle my official visits. If I really know what school I like then I will probably take that visit as my fifth trip. That way I can compare it to the other schools and then come up with a fair decision.
“The presentation really helped me figure out how important it is to weight all the things and compare the important stuff.”
Speaking of important stuff, Davis, who measured in at 5-foot-11 and 182 pounds, said he’s also picked up a new scholarship offer. He received an offer from Oklahoma late last week and he now has offers from LSU, A&M, Oklahoma State, Arizona, Kansas State and Penn State.
But Davis wasn’t the only house-hold recruit on hand. The two stars from Waco, Texas, showed up and measured in quite well – both when it came to height and weight and also when it came to scholarship offers.
Receiver Torey DeGrate measured in at 5-foot-11 ¾ and 177 pounds and cornerback Marcus Walker came in at 5-11 and 180 pounds. Both players matched up quite well to what they had reported when it came to height and they definitely passed the eye-ball test.
“This event was great,” DeGrate said. “This will now help me know how to respond to coaches and talk to them when they call in May.”
And call, they will.
DeGrate said in order that he likes Oklahoma, Texas, LSU, Arkansas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State. He has offers from OU, LSU, Arkansas, Baylor and Texas Tech. Walker said Texas and Oklahoma lead over Texas A&M, Arkansas, Oklahoma State and LSU. He has offers from Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Baylor and Texas Tech.
Two of the more physically impressive recruits at the event Sunday were on the same team. Offensive lineman J.D. Quinn and tight end Brandon Holmes of Garland definitely passed the eye-ball test and have the look of solid Division I players.
Quinn, who already has offers from TCU and Iowa State and likes OU, TCU, Texas A&M, Texas and Iowa State, came in at 6-foot-3 ½ and 269 pounds. Quinn said he would likely commit to Oklahoma if offered a scholarship, but is keeping his options open at this point.
Holmes is a new name with man recruiting fans, but he measured in at a very solid 6-2 and 244 pounds. He lists Vanderbilt, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, TCU and Oklahoma as his top teams. He will camp at Kansas State this summer and hopes to use the information he learned at the Junior Day to help him out.
“I learned a lot about what an offer does and doesn’t mean,” he said. “I learned how it works and that I really want to be sure about what coaches are saying.”
And it’ll be a sure thing that he’s likely going to earn a scholarship from somewhere.
One of the top quarterbacks in the state of Texas was on hand. Graham Harrell of Ennis, Texas, said he learned a lot about the rules of recruiting.
“I also learned what questions that I need to ask,” Harrell, who measured in at 6-foot-2 ½ and 183 pounds, said. “It was also good to hear what to expect over the next few months.”
On the recruiting front, Harrell said he’s picked up his first offer from Wisconsin. He said Georgia, Texas Tech, Purdue, Florida State, Louisiana Tech and Wisconsin are his top teams at this point.
To go along with some of the top-level kids there were a few new names that haven’t been talked about that emerged as hot targets.
After coming in at 6-foot-2 ¾ and 237 pounds, Colleyville (Texas) Heritage defensive end Alan Davis II talked a lot about his new offer from LSU and coach Nick Saban.
“We called him on Friday and he told us that an offer was coming,” Davis said. “Then we received the FedEx with the paperwork on Saturday. After listening to the speakers today, I guess that helped me realize that the offer is definitely and official one.”
Definitely so. And after a quick film review, it’s likely not to be his last. Watch for Davis to emerge as one of the areas more highly recruited players and his list shows that.
“I’m really high on LSU, Texas, Florida State, Colorado and TCU,” he said. “I would also like to hear more from Miami. I’m going to camp this summer at LSU, Texas and Florida State.”
Advertisement