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ATLANTA - All the die-hard recruiting fans were locked into Rivals.com today, looking for scoop when around 100 of the top athletes in the country checked in to compete at the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge presented by adidas inside Mercedes Benz Stadium.
A lot of interviews were conducted, of course, but there was a lot more going on besides recruits answering questions about their future.
Here is a look behind the scenes.
IRON BOWL PREVIEW?
Auburn commit Javion Cohen and Alabama commit Javon Baker were decked out in their team’s gear Monday, and each talked a little trash, but not about football… it was about ping pong.
COOKIES TASTE LIKE “HEAVEN”
Bryce Foster is only a rising junior, but the four-star offensive lineman is already 6-feet, 5-inches tall and 318 pounds. After putting a few quesadillas away, he went to the burrito and chocolate chip cookies.
A YES AND NO ANSWER
Arik Gilbert is a five-star standout and could go to any of his top 10 schools, but is he truly considering all 10? That part is no.
Gilbert is going to stay close to home. Alabama, Clemson, Georgia and Tennessee are truly in play right now, but of course, Gilbert did want to do a photo shoot with all 10 hats.
RECRUIT EVALUATES ANALYST
Usually is it the Rivals.com team of analysts giving the breakdowns of recruits, but on Monday, four-star offensive lineman Sedrick Van Pran shared his thoughts on the analyst for his region, Sam Spiegleman.
Spiegleman gave Van Pran's evaluation five-stars.
RINGO IS RIGHT
If you were in on our rankings calls the last few weeks, you would know this has been a big debate between the analysts at Rivals.com. Elias Ricks is the No. 1 cornerback and Kelee Ringo is No. 2. Both are five-stars and both are top six players in the 2020 class, but when Ringo was asked who should be on top today at check-in, he said himself.
I agree. Ringo has my vote.
SWAG BAG
In between eating, playing video games, going at it in ping pong and doing interviews, players had to take time going through their swag bag given to them by adidas.
The players were raving about what they received, and rightfully so.
SOME RECRUITING GOING ON
Harrison Bailey is a well-known recruit in the 2020 class. He is the first three-time participant at the Five-Star Challenge, and not only is he here to compete this week, but of course, he will be doing some recruiting.
The Tennessee commit has some big names on his radar, and he very close to a couple of them.
PENN STATE A THREAT FOR DOWNS?
Joshua Downs showed up today wearing a North Carolina back pack, and the Tar Heel fans have to be excited about that. That was seen by everyone. But what was not seen by most was that, underneath his long-sleeve shirt, he was sporting a Penn State bracelet. The four-star wide receiver was just up in Happy Valley for a visit earlier this month.
Should North Carolina fans be worried? Listen, Downs has an uncle on that staff in Dre Bly, so the Tar Heels have something no other school has — a family connection. He is going to be a tough flip for anyone.
FRIENDLY EVALUATIONS
Two of the top quarterbacks in the country like just live miles apart in Georgia. Max Johnson is a four-star signal caller headed to LSU in the 2020 class and Brock Vandagriff, the top prospect in the 2021 class, recently committed to Oklahoma.
These two have worked out together and developed a close relationship. Today during media day, the two standout QBs offered a little breakdown of the other.
