2018 Texas State 7-on-7 Championships preview
Talent from across the state have assembled in College Station this week for the State Championship 7-on-7 tournament at Veterans field in College Station. Jason Howell runs down the names to know and players to watch in his comprehensive preview.
Around Texas: A round-up of recruiting news in the Lone Star State
The Texas recruiting landscape saw a flurry of commitments as July wrapped up and August began as programs across the state picked up talented prospects. Jason Howell has all the latest news in this week's edition of Around Texas.
Texas 7-on-7 State Finals Preview
College Station will be hosting the annual state championships for 7-on-7 this weekend at Veteran's Park on Harvey Rd just east of Hwy 6. The teams will be divided into small and large school brackets. Division II (small schools) will begin play on Thursday afternoon while the big boys start on Friday. Depending on the bracket, games will either begin at 1 and 2 o'clock each day. Here's a look at the pools and schedule...https://twitter.com/r_brauninger/status/879452412666359808https://twitter.com/r_brauninger/status/879453149593042945In looking at the D1 bracket, I'll be keeping an eye on all Pool E with Deneric Prince and Brian Johnson from Manvel and key target Bobby Brown from Arlington Lamar. Jalen Preston is not expected to make the trip because he's participating in The Opening this weekend. These types of events are built for guys like 2019 QB Grant Gunnell and his shifty WR teammate Chase Lane. The A&M will commits will start play in Pool G against some pretty tough squads that will feature 2019 TE Austin Stogner (Oklahoma) out of Plano Prestonwood. The last commit is in Pool J where Montel Parker and his Dickinson teammates will try to replicate last year's run in this event that included an upset over heavily favored Manvel. Other guys more guys per group to watch for in the big school bracket...Pool A:Clear Brook WR Caleb Chapman 2019 Coppell S Jonathan McGill 2019 Lake Travis WR Garrett Wilson Pool B:Cinco Ranch ATH Brant Kuithe 2019 Lufkin ATH Breylon Garcia 2019 Haslet Eaton RB Titus Swen Georgetown LB Brandon Hawkins (Boise State)Georgetown WR Caden Leggett - had a big Pylon 7v7 National Championship runPool C:Cedar Ridge RB Simi Bakare 2019 Cedar Ridge WR Jaylen Ellis (Baylor)Fort Worth All Saints WR Jaylon Robinson (Oklahoma)Pool D:Mansfield Timberview ATH Jalen Knox (Missouri)Del Valle WR La'Thaniel Washington Del Valle LB Cameron Wilkins Pool E:2019 Hutto QB Chase Griffin Manvel QB Kason Martin (UNT)Arlington Lamar WR Matthew Shaw 2019 Arlington Lamar CB Deshawn Gaddie 2020 Arlington Lamar LB James Douglas Pool F:2019 Katy RB Deondrick Glass 2021 Katy QB Bronson McClelland 2020 Mesquite Poteet RB Seth McGowan Pool G:St Pius WR Bryson Jackson 2019 Beaumont West Brook RB Robert McGrue Pool H:San Angelo Central TE Henry TeeterHouston Lamar RB Ta'Zhawn Henry Pool I:Desoto DB German Green (Michigan)DeSoto RB Kelan Walker (Houston)2019 DeSoto WR La'Vontae Shenault 2020 DeSoto DB Jabbar Muhammad Pool J:2019 Dickinson TE Jalen Wydermyer The Colony DB Jaxon GibbsPool K:Lewisville Hebron QB Clayton Tune (Kansas)Lewisville Hebron DB Verone McKinley III 2019 Lewisville Hebron WR Trejan Bridges 2020 Lewisville Hebron S Darius Snow Klein WR Colton ChelootzPool L:Richmond Foster DB Christian YoungFrisco Wakeland WR Tre Adams Pool M:College Station ATH Marquez Perez 2019 Waxahachie S Demani Richardson Pool N:CyCreek WR Miles Battle Pool O:The Woodlands OL Jake Syptak (plays some TE in 7-on-7) (SMU)The Woodlands WR KeSean CarterPool P:A&M Consolidated ATH Kolby Peel (Ok State)2019 Ft Bend Bush S Jamal Morris 2019 Ft Bend Bush CB Erick Young Houston Lamar should look a lot different this weekend with Anthony Cook, D'Shawn Jamison, and Al'vonte Woodard all expected to be at The Opening. I still think they're a team to beat even without those guys. Their depth is crazy. I'll take a stab at the final 4 this weekend - Manvel, St Pius, Lake Travis, and College Station.While the talent isn't as wide spread in the small school division, there will be some really talented kids competing. Some of those names that jump out are...Cuero TE Bralen Taylor (Baylor)Somerset QB Zadock Dinkelmann (BYU)Carthage RB Keaontay Ingram (Texas)2020 Carthage ATH Kelvontay Dixon Rockdale ATH Jaquayln Crawford 2019 Cuero ATH Jordan Whittington 2019 Stafford WR Jalen Curry 2019 Wellington OL Trevor Roberson - could be a possibility as a TE2020 Melissa RB JaBray Young 2020 Melissa QB Brendon Lewis
Saturday Recruiting News and Notes
The Grapevine 7-on-7 SQT featured a few very big prospects of interest. I was only at the middle school site so I only saw half the teams but those teams featured A&M targets Bobby Brown, RJ Mickens, and Frisco Heritage TE Nic McTear.Arlington Lamar DL Bobby Brown will return to College Station for Texas A&M's BBQ. I'm not quite sure how many visits this will make but he has taken several now including a visit to last year's BBQ shortly after receiving his offer. The Aggies are in very good spot. Bobby plays his cards close to the vest and he does not plan to announce anything until November 2nd, but I have heard from very good sources the Aggies are right up there as one of his top choices. His actions seem to indicate that with the number of times he has visited. Coach Price was also at his spring game and Price has done a great job building a strong relationship with the entire family. At the 7-on-7 today, Brown was mainly a goalline jump ball tight end option for Arlington Lamar's offense. I didn't get a chance to see him bring one in, but he was having fun and looked good out there running around.2020 prospect RJ Mickens will also attend the BBQ with his family. He is keeping an open mind to the recruiting process, and there is a long way to go, but it is always good to get him back on campus.Mickens played a little both ways and I just missed getting an awesome vide of a TD reception. He had to toe tap it and make a quick adjustment to make the grab and he made it look easy. On defense he had a couple of deflections at CB and he also played some S. https://twitter.com/Jason_Howell/status/868480975734493184https://twitter.com/Jason_Howell/status/868523402809806853warming up at WRhttps://twitter.com/Jason_Howell/status/8685228015017451532018 TE Nic McTear says he is not hearing much from the Aggies right now. Texas A&M's Jeff Banks did come by during the spring to see the Oklahoma State commit, but he says it was not one of his better days of practice and he has not heard much from them since. That said, if the Aggies need to go on another tight end prospect, McTear is a guy to keep an eye on.A few other standouts- Arlington Lamar 2019 CB Deshawn Gaddie was having a great day before I left with 3 INTs. I saw him pick off one in the endzone by undercutting the receiver and stretching out to high point the ball. He did the same thing on another play for a big PBU late against Frisco Heritage. He is still waiting on his first offer, but I expect him to grab a few before the summer is over. He's a top 100 in Texas type of guy- Haslet Eaton 2019 RB Titus Swen was also pretty special. The 5-11, 190-pound running back showed off his hands and body control a few times this morning. He holds offers from SMU and Kansas, but he has the build and skillset that should attract others. - Waxahachie 2019 S Demani Richardson was another who impressed. He's a big S who could have potential at LB if he outgrows the position. He showed a lot of range this morning. He has plans to attend the Texas camp in a few days as well as get out to Alabama. He also mentioned Baylor and TCU as possible summer camp destinations.- Mesquite Poteet 2020 RB Seth McGowan is an athlete I didn't know too much about before this weekend. He already holds offers from Tulsa and Bowling Green and he has received interest from Oklahoma, Texas Tech, LSU, and Texas. The Aggies were through Poteet this spring and got a good look at him and at 5-11, 195-pounds I would say he is one to watch moving forward. https://twitter.com/Jason_Howell/status/868478888418181121