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Midwest spotlight: Underclassmen on the rise during summer camps

The month of June means college programs hosting summer camps across the Midwest, and several underclassmen took advantage of those opportunities to enhance their recruiting profiles. Here is a look at five underclassmen from the Midwest region who emerged as prospects to know based on their June performances.

MORE HELMHOLDT: Biggest commitments for Big Ten in June

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We knew about Dixon ahead of summer because of his appearance at the Rivals New Speed Combine presented by adidas in Ohio in May. Dixon ran 4.75 and had a 41-inch vertical at 6-foot-2 and 193 pounds, earning an invite back the next day to the Rivals 3 Stripe Camp. Colleges, though, did not start to key in on Dixon until late in the spring and this summer, and he now holds eight offers, including ones from Power Five programs Kentucky and N.C. State. As a sophomore Dixon played safety, but after camps this summer many schools are starting to project him to linebacker in college.

Henning truly came out of nowhere this summer after not playing varsity as a freshman on a Lincoln-Way East team that is always deep. The rising sophomore earned his first offer at Illinois’ camp in early June, in part by running a 4.37 40-yard dash time. That speed is legit and not just camp hype, as Henning finished third in the state finals of the 100 meters for Illinois’ largest classification this past spring as a freshman. On the gridiron, Henning looks to be more of an all-purpose back who has running, receiving and return abilities.

As a true freshman, Hubbard rushed for more than 1,000 yards for Buchtel High and head coach Ricky Powers, a former NFL running back with the Cleveland Browns, so he did not appear out of nowhere. This summer is when Hubbard’s name really started to generate buzz on the recruiting scene, however, and his first offers came through in June from Kentucky, Minnesota, Bowling Green and Toledo. With a comparable build to former state of Ohio great Maurice Clarett, Hubbard looks to have all the goods to be a national prospect in the coming years.

There will be a lot of eyes on the St. Louis area in 2019, as the city is kicking out a lot of top talent right now. Miller, who also goes by “D.J.”, is among the most recent to emerge as a Power Five talent, generating five offers in the last two months including his most recent from Iowa and Western Michigan in June. As a sophomore, Miller saw limited time on varsity and primarily played wide receiver, but many schools see his size and speed translating to the cornerback position when he arrives in college.

The younger brother of Micah Potter, a center on the Ohio State basketball team, Noah has technically been on the recruiting scene since before the start of his sophomore season. His stock has been greatly enhanced this summer, however, after a couple camp stops where coaches were buzzing about his growth and future potential. Now up to 6-foot-6 and 245 pounds (his brother measures 6-foot-9), one question is whether Potter may be better suited for offensive tackle. Boston College and Iowa State are his most recent offers, bringing him up to five total.

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