What I Liked: KB3 Elite Passing Camp

HOUSTON, Tex. -- After a spring filled with megacamps staffed with sometimes upwards of 30 college assistants and the hustle of big camp series like Rivals’ own 3 Stripe Camp Series presented by adidas, it was refreshing to see a tighter group out to work this week at the KB3 Elite Passing Camp at Houston Christian High School.

Keith Blackmon, who has established a reputation as one of the top quarterback instructors in the Houston area, as well as organizer of the KB3 Elite 7v7 team that was one of the nation’s best this past spring, hosted a group of middle through high school prospects that provided a unique glimpse into the future of some of the area’s top talent. Even though many of the biggest names in 2019 and 2020 have scaled back their appearances at camps and competitive events this time of year, there was still plenty to see in the way of guys looking to come out and make a name for themselves and get some good work in.

This shouldn’t be a big surprise, but from my perspective, it was a lot of fun to watch Demond Demas work. When Demas made an appearance at the Houston Rivals camp in the spring, truthfully, he didn’t have the kind of outing I expected. On top of that, he picked up a bit of a knock and bowed out of the camp early. This week, he was hungry to get as much work and instruction in as he could, and was far more of a perfectionist than I would have expected him to want to be, given his obvious physical talent. Demas has been a bit of an elusive guy to catch at events such as this week’s camp, so seeing his come out and work as hard as he did showed a side of him that I don’t think people outside of his circle probably had a clear idea about. This was a passing camp, so pulling players at defensive back to come out and work was a bit of an afterthought, but seeing the difference in athleticism between Demas and pretty much anyone that lines up across from him is truly a spectacle.

For those still unfamiliar, Hunter Dunn is a three-star 2020 quarterback prospect at Tomball. He has been a top quarterback pupil for well-known Houston-area trainer Rischad Whitfield, a.k.a. the Footwork King, who also trains Demas - and his 4-Star North Forest offensive tackle teammate, Javonne Shepherd. There was an indication after this week that Dunn is in line to follow 2019 Rivals250 prospect Grant Gunnell as the quarterback for KB3 Elite 7v7 after this fall and Demas is likely tethered to him. Dunn took visits this offseason to Arkansas, Georgia and Texas but the visit to Athens could be of particular interest, as Demas said after the camp that he and five-star Houston running back Zachary Evans had been discussing a possible connection at Georgia.

Although Shepherd is thought to be a heavy lean to the Longhorns, either he or those around him have discussed him taking visits to a Georgia, Alabama, and a few select other programs. With the bond that entire group has formed while training with Whitfield, there could be some implications about where some or most of it could go on to play their college ball. At this point, Dunn still isn't the guy that the biggest-name teams are looking for as the only QB they take in 2020, but this fall - and the following spring - will be a major opportunity for him to take that next step forward. A clear friendship has developed between he and Demas, so if one of the teams in the WR’s Top 8 come around on Dunn, something bigger could be in the works.

Again, this was a passing camp, so we’re really only talking quarterbacks and wide receivers, but one of the guys I should mention as looking good running around out there is Houston-Lamar’s Joe Wilson. Incredibly, he is one of two players on the Texans with that name - not to be confused with three-star 2020 DB Joseph Wilson - but with some of the big names on offense no longer with that team after the past few seasons, he’s a player that has a clear chance to be the guy on that team. I saw him earlier in the spring running with All-En 7v7 and he was a standout player on that team as well, so I wouldn’t be surprised to hear more about him as the fall gets underway.

2020 Tomball running back Ja’kobi Holland just looks the part of a guy that’s due to pick up some offers here before too long. He has an early one in his back pocket from UTEP, but playing in an offense this fall led by Dunn - and that just added big-time tight end prospect Logan Compton, there will be more of a spotlight shining in his direction.

Jason McDonald might not be a guy that catches a ton of headlines this fall, as he’s now at Fulshear after starting his high school career at Richmond-Foster. He was essentially a special teams player for the Falcons, but should have an opportunity this season to be a showcase talent for the Chargers. He’s built like a running back, but has the twitchy ability of a slot receiver and has the look of a guy that has the tools to be a significant offensive weapon.

As mentioned, there were a number of youngsters at the camp and even though I don’t usually go overboard talking about guys at this stage, there were a couple of incoming freshmen that I think are definitely going to be names to know sooner than later. Jacobe Chester already has some level of hype surrounding him as he prepares to start his high school career. He was playing through some ankle tendonitis and it caught him in the one-on-ones when he was working as a defensive back, but it’s already easy to see the sort of physical potential he has and after a couple of seasons I’m sure he’ll be a difference-maker as an athlete on either side of the ball.

Keith Wheeler has impressive length and dexterity already as a wide receiver prospect headed to Atascocita and with more seasoning and reps over the next few years, we’ll be talking about him as a guy fielding multiple Power Five offers by his senior season. Josiah Caddell looked like one of the most dynamic slot receivers at the camp regardless of age and showed a lot of natural instincts making all kinds of catches. Episcopal running back Adrian Cormier was one of the more diminutive youths running around, but he also showed plenty of confidence when it came to running his routes and meeting the ball to make grabs.