Rivals Camp Series Charlotte: Friedman's predictions

Over the years the Charlotte stop has become one of the best for the Rivals Camp Series presented by adidas. Each year, stars and future stars from all over the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast make their way to the Charlotte area in hopes of getting better and showcasing their skills. Here are some predictions of what may occur at the camp.

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The Carolinas are known for churning out excellent defensive linemen and that position group will be loaded on Sunday. Four members of the Rivals250 are expected to compete, along with a number of very impressive underclassmen. The group will be led by Rivals250 prospects Jacolbe Cowan, Kedrick Bingley-Jones, Demonte Capehart and Alex Huntley. Capehart is the only commit in the group, having already given his verbal commitment to Clemson. Watch out for underclassmen defensive linemen Jahvaree Ritzie, Zaire Patterson, Keeshawn Silver and a few others. Each already has Power Five offers and will be adding more as the recruiting process moves forward.

The top offensive lineman expected to be in attendance is Cooper Mays, a Tennessee native and brother of former five-star Georgia offensive lineman Cade Mays. The race for offensive line MVP is wide open because there are a few others that will be competing, and they won’t make it easy for Mays.

There will be a number of good defensive backs in attendance on Sunday, but the group of wide receivers that will be there is very talented and very deep. Rivals100 prospect and NC State commit Porter Rooks will be the highest rated of the group, followed by Rivals250 prospects Muhsin Muhammad and Michael Wyman. South Carolina commit Da’Qon Stewart and Virginia Tech commit Jalin Hyatt will be out there along with highly regarded players such as Antonio Barber, Jhari Patterson and tight end Kendall Karr. Underclassmen who are expected to make some noise include Will Shipley, Gavin Blackwell and Shaleak Knotts, along with a few others.

The defensive back group, which will be headlined by Rivals100 North Carolina commit Cameron Roseman-Sinclair, has a fairly long list of names that will test the receivers. The defensive backs could end up getting some help from the other side of the ball, too. Ja’Qurious Conley and 2021 prospect Kaemen Marley might end up spending time on both offense and defense during the camp.

Some of college football’s most intense rivalries call the Carolinas home. Clemson has defeated South Carolina the last five times they’ve played, and South Carolina won five straight over Clemson before that. The fact that both teams have their spring games on Saturday is sure to be a major topic of discussion on Sunday. It will be interesting to see which spring game in-state recruits choose to go watch.

To the north, Mack Brown and his new coaching staff at North Carolina have reignited the Tar Heel faithful and they are going after areas in which NC State has had recent success. NC State isn’t backing down, however, and there have already been some hotly contested recruiting battles. Recruits on both sides, along with Clemson and South Carolina, will be competing on Sunday.

With Rivals100 back Chris Tyree out of Virginia and Rivals250 back Rico Powers out of Georgia making their way to the camp on Sunday, it’s going to be hard for any running back from the Carolinas to take the MVP award. Are one of these two going to run away with the award? Probably not, especially when you factor in national 2021 prospect Evan Pryor. Pryor hails from North Carolina, and he has the experience and skill set to keep the MVP award in the Carolinas.

Pryor isn’t the only talented running back who will be in attendance on Sunday. North Carolina commit Elijah Burris will try to bring the MVP award back to the Tar Heel State, and he’ll have the help of other backs such as Ahmani Marshall.

The state of South Carolina is sending most of its best players to the camp on Sunday, along with many others that could be this year’s Cameron Smith or Shamar McCollum. Both of those players showed up to last year’s Charlotte Rivals Camp without much acclaim, but ended up getting invited to the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge and finishing in the Rivals250. Palmetto State Rivals250 prospects DeMonte Capehart and Alex Huntley are expected to compete this weekend, but there are plenty of others that could end up using this event as a springboard.