Scott steals the show at NIKE Combine
The South showed its passion and spirit for
football Saturday as over 350 players worked out at the NIKE Combine held at
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Dutchtown High just outside of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Although unseasonably
cold temperatures and three straight days of rain leading up to the combine made
the testing conditions not ideal, several athletes came through with some
big-time performances.
Headlining the day's top performers was 5-11,
194 pound athlete Burton Scott out of Pritchard (Ala.) Vigor. Scott,
who was a Class 5A honorable mention all-state selection last fall, showed the
athleticism that has already led to four early offers, posting the event's top
SPARQ Rating by far at 96.36. Scott, who lists his favorite schools as West
Virginia, Auburn, Louisville, Miami and USC, arrived at the highest rating
thanks to a combine-best 39.4-inch vertical jump, and also had outstanding marks
of 4.67 (on a very damp field) in the 40, 4.40 in the shuttle and 26 reps on the
bench.
Scott's teammate at Vigor, 5-11 1/2, 164 pound
cornerback Marcal Robinson, also stamped himself as a player to watch
at the combine, racing to an event-best 4.65 in the 40 while also posting a
34.9-inch vertical jump.
Trailing Scott in the race for the highest
SPARQ Rating was a trio of talented running backs, two of whom hailed from
Louisiana. Scotlandville's Brandon Bolden, 5-11, 208 pounder, followed
up a solid NIKE Camp showing at LSU a year ago with a big day Saturday,
finishing with a second-best 81.19 SPARQ Rating on the strength of a 37.4-inch
vertical and 20 reps on the bench. 5-10, 198 pound rising junior Michael
Ford out of Leesville showed he'll be worth watching over the next two
seasons after benching 28 reps, which tied for the combine-high with Shreveport
(La.) Captain Shreve DT Brandon Abner, and also posting a 33.1-inch
vertical on his way to a 77.70 SPARQ Rating.
Ole Miss early commit Kent Davis, a
6-0 1/2, 214 pound running back, showed the combination of size, speed and
explosiveness that led the Rebels to offer the Tupelo (Miss.) star early on, as
Davis clocked a top-five 40 time of 4.71 (on a day where most times would be .25
to .30 faster if under normal conditions), benched 16 reps and posted a
36.9-inch vertical jump - good for the day's third-best SPARQ Rating at 80.90.
New Orleans Holy Cross running back Byron
Wilson clocked the combine's quickest shuttle time at 4.19.
Other top prospects in attendance included
Thibodaux (La.) E.D. White TE/DL Chase Clement, Baton Rouge (La.) St.
Michael's OL Evan Ruiz, Dutchtown OL Kevin Saia, Franklinton
(La.) WR Brandon Taylor, Daphne (Ala.) OL Teavis Durgin and
Gadsden (Ala.) Gadsden City LB/DE Jerrell Harris, who scored 16 points
and grabbed 12 rebounds in a basketball game Friday night, then woke up at 2am
and drove six hours with his father to participate at the NIKE Combine.
StudentSportsFootball.com will have full coverage of the combine including
more top marks, complete testing results and video throughout the week so log on
and stay tuned!