USAToday
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Combine helps sort out top recruits By Christopher Lawlor, USA TODAY
SAN ANTONIO — The main event Saturday was the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, but the National Combine created a buzz of its own.
While 78 seniors concluded their high school football careers at the Alamodome, the nation's top 500 juniors participated Saturday and Sunday in an event modeled after the NFL combine, measuring each athlete's speed, strength and jumping ability.
"This is early enough in the year that kids aren't intimidated to compete against one another," says analyst Tom Lemming of CSTV.
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</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Wide receiver Percy Harvin of Landstown (Virginia Beach) and offensive lineman Andre Smith of Huffman (Birmingham, Ala.) zoomed to the top of recruiting lists last year after superlative performances at the combine.
Five of the six quarterbacks in this year's U.S. Army game attended last year's combine. Other combine alumni include Ted Ginn Jr. of Ohio State, Tom Zbikowski of Notre Dame and Derrick Williams of Penn State.
Elite juniors who attended this year included QB Pat Bostick of Manheim (Pa.), QB Peter Lalich of West Springfield (Springfield, Va.), QB Cameron Newton of Westlake (Atlanta), RB Armando Allen of Hialeah (Miami), RB Chris Rainey of Lakeland (Fla.), L Sam DeMartinis of Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks Calif.), LB Lorenzo Edwards of Edgewater (Orlando), DE Sidell Corley of McGill-Toolen (Mobile, Ala.) and RB Caleb King of Parkview (Lilburn, Ga.).
King was the combine's overall MVP. The offensive MVP was Allen, and end Brandon Joiner of Shoemaker in Killeen, Texas, was defensive MVP.
"(Combines) have a value because coaches can get a true evaluation of a player and usually the players are pushing themselves to excel against their peers," Nebraska assistant John Blake says.
