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Published Jun 11, 2017
Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge: College programs with reason to be pleased
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Chad Simmons  •  Rivals.com
Recruiting Analyst
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@ChadSimmons_

The Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge presented by adidas is in the books, and numerous highly-touted recruits shined. Several current college programs have particular reason to be pleased, however, as commits to those schools were particularly impressive.

Here's a look at five programs whose recruits had strong performances at the event.

#RIVALSCHALLENGE: Five-star Team Roster | Complete coverage | Saturday night session | Saturday day session | Friday media day | Behind the scenes | MVPs

OHIO STATE

Ohio State had the most commitments competing this weekend, and Buckeyes fans would have loved to see them perform in Indianapolis. Numerous future Buckeyes stood out with a trio Rivals 100 talents (defensive end Brenton Cox, running back Jaelen Gill and safety Jaiden Woodbey) leading the way. Cox was strong in both sessions, winning battles with power and quickness. Gill was slippery and tough to cover, scoring numerous touchdowns, and Woodbey picked off passes on defense and scored a touchdown on offense. Linebacker Teredja Mitchell was strong in the middle of the defense and defensive back Josh Proctor covered a lot of ground in the secondary.

MIAMI

The offensive line MVP was Miami commit Delone Scaife, and he had a great performance to start to finish. Scaife is not the biggest or longest offensive tackle, but he showed great feet, good reach and nice punch in battle. He looked great at camp in Miami, and he looked just as good, if not better, in Indianapolis. Some view Scaife as a better offensive guard long term, but he may get a long look at tackle first.

CLEMSON

By the end of the event, Trevor Lawrence left no doubts that he is the top prospect in the country. He guided his team to the 7-on-7 championship game, and he was throwing darts across the middle and beautiful deep passes 40 yards down the field. His numbers were great - he threw 12 touchdowns despite numerous drops from his receiver. He showed great poise, he is a natural leader and he stood up to every challenge thrown his way. When he wasn’t tossing touchdown passes, he was doing some recruiting for the Tigers, too.

GEORGIA

Jadon Haselwood is only going to be a junior in the fall, but he made it clear that he is one of the best in the country regardless of class Saturday. He is a five-star wide receiver, and his performance at the event supported that ranking. He was extremely smooth in and out of his routes, he plucked the ball out of the air and he made things look easy at times. Another future Dawg, cornerback Christopher Smith, battled each and every play. He had numerous pass break-ups while locking up bigger, more physical wideouts all afternoon. He is scrappy, he is sneaky quick and he seems to shine when the lights are the brightest.

LSU

LSU class of 2019 commit Kardell Thomas started off a little slow, but he finished the morning session strong, then dominated in the afternoon. He is so strong, his punch is as good as anyone’s and he just overpowered numerous defensive linemen; Thomas even put a few on their backs. In between shining in the one-on-one sessions, he won the Strongest Man competition, bench pressing 225 pounds 24 times. He is on track to be a mauler for the Tigers.

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