Last year, the Under Armour All-American game had six of the nation's top seven prospects. This year's all-star game might be on its way to topping that. Four of the nation's top players -- DB
Lamarcus Joyner, RB
Michael Dyer, LB
Jeff Luc and LB
Jordan Hicks -- have committed to playing in the game, which will be played in Orlando on Jan. 2 and shown live on ESPN. The practices and skills challenge will also be shown on ESPN's family of networks.
"I want to be affiliated with an all-star game that's going to get me the most ready for the next level," said Joyner, one of the nation's top CB prospects. "It's going to be a fun week, but I'm all about competing and most looking forward to competing against the best in the country all week."
Simply The Best
Judging by the early list of players committed to the 2010 Under Armour High School All-American game, this year's version is on its way to being the best yet.
2010 UA All-American game roster
So far, 41 players have accepted bids to play in the third-annual event, which has quickly become the nation's premier high school all-star showcase. The game's roster is selected by the scouts of ESPN's Scouts Inc., who have decades of college coaching, recruiting and playing experience between them. For the past two seasons, the Under Armour All-American game has featured the nation's top recruit. In 2009, Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley was one of the top performers in the contest and in the game's first year, Clemson defensive end DaQuan Bowers participated. Other noteworthy players from the inaugural year include Miami's Sean Spence, who was the ACC defensive rookie of the year and receivers A.J. Green (Georgia) and Julio Jones (Alabama), both of whom were freshman All-American candidates last season.
This year's roster is stocked with top position talent and also includes a trio of QBs --
Nick Montana,
Blake Bell and
Phillip Sims -- who have many of the nation's top programs after them.
"I had been down to San Antonio for the underclassman combine [during last year's Army All-American game] and got a feel for what it was like down there, but I just felt that the Under Armour game was a better fit for me," said Sims, who is considering Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and FSU. "I wanted to do something different and new. I mean, ESPN's television coverage is in front of millions of people, playing in Orlando and Under Armour is a first class product."
A pair of the best linebackers in the country will be chasing after the QBs. Luc, whose highlight reel has become a YouTube legend, and Jordan Hicks will be in Orlando.
"I wanted to be in this game because I heard a lot of good things about it and everything seems legit," said Luc, who is considering USC, Florida, Miami, FSU and Georgia. "I want to compete against the best in the nation on the field and also go to Disney World, where you can be a kid again." But the 6-foot-1, 235-pounder is anything but a kid on the field. Every hit seems to be a de-cleater and despite his size, he's fast enough to chase ball carriers down from behind. He had 20 tackles for loss last season at Port St. Lucie (Fla.) Treasure Coast last year.
He's joined by Hicks (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West), who had 16 tackles for loss last season. The 6-2, 210-pounder is considering Ohio State, Texas, USC, Alabama and Florida.
"I have watched the Under Armor game the last two years and have really wanted to play in it," Hicks said. "I can't think of a better place to play in an all-star game than Florida in the winter. I am really looking forward to playing against the very best competition in the country. I am honored to have been selected and to represent West Chester Lakota and my team."
Other linebackers already in the game include
Corey Nelson (Dallas, Texas/Skyline), who is the top linebacker in the Lone Star State in this class, and
V.J. Fehoko (Honolulu, Hi./Farrington), who had 86 tackles and 20 sacks last year and is the next big prospect to come off the islands.
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Joyner, who is considering Florida, Ohio State, Miami, FSU and Notre Dame, leads an impressive group of defensive backs. Joyner will be the latest high-level prospect out of Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas, the South Florida powerhouse, which has produced such standouts as Michael Irvin, Tavares Gooden, Brian Piccolo, Nate Salley, Major Wright and others. "It's an honor to be chosen and recognized and shows all my hard work throughout high school has paid off," Joyner said.
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Other defensive ends include one of Michigan's top prospects in
William Gholston (Detroit/Southeastern), who had more than 100 tackles last season and has a national offer list, and
Corey Miller (Duncan, S.C./James F. Byrnes), an elite pass-rusher from one of the Southeast's best high school programs.
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Other running backs selected include
Jordon James (Corona, Calif./Corona), who rushed for 1,135 yards in just five games last season, and
Mack Brown (Lithonia, Ga./Martin Luther King), who reminds some recruiting insiders and college coaches of Clemson All-American candidate C.J. Spiller coming out of high school.
Montana (Westlake Village, Calif./Oaks Christian), the son of NFL legend Joe Montana and one of the top signal-callers in the country, is considering Ohio State, LSU, Alabama, Notre Dame and Stanford. Sims (Chesapeake, Va./Oscar Smith) is the next great quarterback prospect from the Tidewater area of Virginia, and Bell (Wichita, Kan./Bishop Carroll), is a 6-6 dual-threat quarterback who had more than 3,500 yards of total offense last season.
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This group of elite QBs will have a great group of receivers to throw to in Orlando, including
Justin Hunter (Virginia Beach, Va./Ocean Lakes), who is in the mold of Georgia's Green. The 6-4, 175-pounder caught 47 passes and scored 10 touchdowns last year. Hunter holds offers from Virginia Tech, Alabama, LSU and others. Other receivers named to the roster include explosive playmaker
Chris Dunkley (Royal Palm Beach, Fla./Royal Palm Beach), who averaged more than 20 yards per reception last season and was a fixture on the sidelines observing practice at the 2009 Under Armour All-American game. There is also LSU receiver commit
Mike Davis (Dallas, Texas/Skyline) and
Tai-ler Jones (Gainesville, Ga./Gainesville), who has scholarship offers from nearly 40 programs, including Notre Dame where his father Andre Jones played linebacker before heading to the NFL. Also included is
Solomon Patton (Mobile, Ala./Murphy), who is only 5-10, 170 pounds, but what he lacks in size he more than makes up for with his sprinter's speed, quickness and big-play ability.
Dunkley, for one, is looking forward to the competition and takes special pride in players from the state of Florida being on the roster.
"It feels real good to be going to the game with (Joyner). I know that during the practices we are going to have a lot of fun, but I also know that we are going to be able to put people to shame from out-of-state. I know that for a fact," Dunkley said. "People from out-of-state that come to Florida for this game, we are going to be going at them."
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Athlete
Corey Brown (Springfield, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) has scholarship offers from multiple programs, including Penn State, Florida and a number of others.
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