Rivals Camp Series: Houston combine draws 1,400

HOUSTON — Roughly 1,400 football prospects participated in the Houston-area stop of the Rivals Combine Series and a handful of particularly impressive prospects were invited back to participate in Sunday’s elite Rivals Camp Series event. Below is a look at some of the players that made the cut.

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Twins from Cypress Ranch competed at the combine Saturday, and they will be back Sunday for camp. Edward Smith and Edwin Smith had eyes on them from the time they arrived Saturday. Edward checked in at 6-foot-5, Edwin at 6-foot-4 and both weighed around 185 pounds. They are still waiting for the offers to roll in, but they are hearing from Baylor, Colorado, Pittsburgh and Texas Tech.

Udoka Ezeani arrived early Saturday morning and tested well. The 6-foot-1, 194 pound linebacker out of Richmond (Texas) Foster High turned in back-to-back 4.8 second laser times in the 40-yard dash, then showed a nice burst with a 4.4 second shuttle time. Ezeani is hearing from numerous programs and he attended games at Baylor, Houston and Louisiana-Lafayette in the fall.

Justice Ugo is 6-foot-3, 176-pound athlete that will line up at cornerback on Sunday. Baylor, Oregon State, Rice and some other programs are showing interest. Ugo has received some invites for visits and he plans to build on that with a strong camp performance.

The purple cleats made him stand out from the time he walked onto the field, then he started testing, and Nehemiah Noel earned his invite. He is a 6-foot-2, 181-pound wide receiver with length and a good frame. Noel turned in an impressive shuttle time of 4.2 seconds. TCU and West Virginia are two programs showing interest in Noel, who scored double-digit touchdowns in 2019.

Will Evans earned his invite at the combine Saturday with a standing broad jump of over 9-feet and a 4.4 second time in the short shuttle. He was born in Louisiana, then moved to Houston in 9th grade, and he is now drawing interest from the hometown Cougars and McNeese State.

Not all the invitees are from the state of Texas. Darius Moore is from El Reno High School in Oklahoma, and the 6-foot, 215-pound linebacker will be back Sunday. He is hearing from a few local programs in Oklahoma, but he said he attended the combine to get his name out there. Moore did just that. He tested well across the board and will have a chance to build on that performance on Sunday.

Caleb Flagg is ready to step in and make a name for himself now that his older brother, Corey Flagg, is leaving North Shore for the University of Miami. The younger Flagg is a 2022 defensive back and he turned heads at the combine Saturday. He had an impressive shuttle time of 4.1 seconds and earned his camp invite.