Spent the day out in San Juan Capistrano watching a bunch of stars at B2G's 7-on-7 tournament.
Here were the recruiting news, notes and evaluations from the day:
Quarterbacks
The only high-major 2016 quarterback in attendance today was Elite Athletes' Max Gilliam, and even he wasn't much special. It's becoming very, very clear that in the state of California, in terms of high Pac-12 level talent, it's basically K.J. Costello, Devon Modster and then a whole bunch of three-stars. Kevin Davidson from NorCal will have a chance to prove himself these next two weekends at our Rivals Camp and at the Pylon event, but other than that, it certainly feels like a down year for QBs in the Golden State.
A name to watch out for, though, is eighth grader J.T. Daniels. He was on B2G's top team and was probably its best quarterback. He's got some legit size already at 6 feet 2 and I really liked the way he threw the ball. I know, I know, he's an eighth grader, but he's headed to Mater Dei and he was probably the second-best QB I saw today. So he gets some ink here.
Wide receivers
We got our first real taste of the 2016 wide receiver battle today. Three big ones - Javon McKinley - all took the field. Jones was clearly the best of the three in my opinion. While he had some drops, he is so quick and so shifty that he has a chance to be a gamebreaking slot in my opinion. McKinley was probably the second-best of the three, although I'm still not buying the hype that he's the best '16 wideout in this year's loaded class.
Pittman was the surprising one of the group, but not necessarily for good reasons. He had way too many drops and he often looked disinterested in giving his all. He's still a for-sure Rivals150 athlete at 6 feet 4 with good athleticism, but I'm starting to hop on the "He's a safety" bandwagon now.
Another 2016 wideout who made waves was Brandon Burton. He's really found his game after being dubbed an elite recruit way back in his freshman year. He looked great on Saturday at Ground Zero, and today was no different.
Two other UCLA offerees took the field today: Keyshawn Johnson Jr. Tate is an intriguing prospect, because he doesn't have a great wide receiver body, but he can go. As for Johnson Jr., a 2017 prospect, I'm not sure I'm seeing too many special qualities there. He's much, much smaller than his pops and doesn't have nearly the same star power.
The best wide receiver in attendance today was 2017 Joseph Lewis. He was bombs away on the outside, burning defensive backs regularly. He has star written all over him.
Another good 2017 prospect was Terrell Bynum, who, despite leaving early with cramping issues, was one of the two or three top offensive performers on the day. He has a chance to be one of the more coveted slots in the region in '17.
Linebackers
There was only one linebacker in attendance today who I thought looked like a Pac-12 player, and that was NorCal's Justin Rice. Reminded me a little bit of a poor man's Cameron Smith, the 2015 USC signee.
Mater Dei LB Curtis Robinson showed up to the event, but he was just there to watch. More on his recruitment down below.
Defensive backs
The best defensive back, in my opinion, was once again 2017 Bosco corner Keith Taylor. He locked down McKinley in their matchup early in the morning, holding the four-star to no catches. He's long at 6 feet 3, but he moves well too. I fully expect him to be a UCLA offeree down the road.
Troy Warner, DeChaun Holiday's teammate over at Mission Hills, had a really good day today too. He's versatile because he can play corner, safety and receiver, and he's also smooth and sticky in coverage. He kind of reminds me of Will Lockett. It wouldn't surprise me to see UCLA offer him either.
Four-star safety prospect Marquel Dismuke is leaner than I expected, but much shorter than I thought. He's only about 5 feet 10. He's got some nice coverage skills and flashed from time to time at safety, but I'm not sure his size will allow him to be a coveted Pac-12 recruit.
Four-star Bosco DB D.J. Morgan didn't have a great day at safety, often times coming too late to break up a pass. He didn't have a great junior year either. So not the best start to his spring.
Three-star Isaiah Hayes had a solid day running with Keyshawn Johnson's team, recording a few pass breakups.
Recruiting notes
-The vibe out there today was Jones and McKinley continue to lean to USC. Same with Lewis.
-Pittman, a UCLA commit, had a wild day of interviews. About five people interviewed him, and his answer to most was essentially, "I'm a soft verbal, and probably a likely decommit." But when I sat down and went in-depth with him, he told me he remains a commitment but he needs to see and hear more from UCLA's coaches when he takes an unofficial to Westwood this weekend. He said he's going to go to campus on Friday and if the visit goes well, he'll reaffirm his pledge. If it doesn't, he'll probably open up his recruitment. I'll have a full story up shortly with his quotes.
-With Burton, USC is still considered the favorite given his Serra connection. But he told me today Demetrice Martin is on him hard and really wants him at defensive back. He sounded interested, but it's so hard to rule out the SC lean here, especially now that he's re-establishing himself as an elite '16 prospect.
-Tate landed the UCLA offer a few days ago, and in a funny story, he told me when Scott Altenberg heard of the news, he told Tate, "Commit!" Tate actually said he grew up a UCLA fan and doesn't understand why everyone has him pinned for USC. He may visit UCLA soon.
-Bynum told me he's looking to visit UCLA this month. He said he's just waiting for Eric Yarber to get back from a mini vacation. He fully expects to land the UCLA offer when he gets to campus for that visit.
-Robinson confirmed with me that his mom did go to UCLA and she does teach at UCLA. She is pushing him toward Westwood, although Stanford remains a serious player here as well. He'll likely visit UCLA this weekend or next, and I'm hearing an offer is imminent.
-Warner - Fred Warner's little brother - told me he's very interested in UCLA and Martin actually hit him up this morning to wish him good luck in the tournament. It sounds like the Bruins would be the immediate favorite if / when they do offer, as Holiday has gassed the Bruins hard to the '16 DB. He's looking to visit UCLA soon as well.
Here were the recruiting news, notes and evaluations from the day:
Quarterbacks
The only high-major 2016 quarterback in attendance today was Elite Athletes' Max Gilliam, and even he wasn't much special. It's becoming very, very clear that in the state of California, in terms of high Pac-12 level talent, it's basically K.J. Costello, Devon Modster and then a whole bunch of three-stars. Kevin Davidson from NorCal will have a chance to prove himself these next two weekends at our Rivals Camp and at the Pylon event, but other than that, it certainly feels like a down year for QBs in the Golden State.
A name to watch out for, though, is eighth grader J.T. Daniels. He was on B2G's top team and was probably its best quarterback. He's got some legit size already at 6 feet 2 and I really liked the way he threw the ball. I know, I know, he's an eighth grader, but he's headed to Mater Dei and he was probably the second-best QB I saw today. So he gets some ink here.
Wide receivers
We got our first real taste of the 2016 wide receiver battle today. Three big ones - Javon McKinley - all took the field. Jones was clearly the best of the three in my opinion. While he had some drops, he is so quick and so shifty that he has a chance to be a gamebreaking slot in my opinion. McKinley was probably the second-best of the three, although I'm still not buying the hype that he's the best '16 wideout in this year's loaded class.
Pittman was the surprising one of the group, but not necessarily for good reasons. He had way too many drops and he often looked disinterested in giving his all. He's still a for-sure Rivals150 athlete at 6 feet 4 with good athleticism, but I'm starting to hop on the "He's a safety" bandwagon now.
Another 2016 wideout who made waves was Brandon Burton. He's really found his game after being dubbed an elite recruit way back in his freshman year. He looked great on Saturday at Ground Zero, and today was no different.
Two other UCLA offerees took the field today: Keyshawn Johnson Jr. Tate is an intriguing prospect, because he doesn't have a great wide receiver body, but he can go. As for Johnson Jr., a 2017 prospect, I'm not sure I'm seeing too many special qualities there. He's much, much smaller than his pops and doesn't have nearly the same star power.
The best wide receiver in attendance today was 2017 Joseph Lewis. He was bombs away on the outside, burning defensive backs regularly. He has star written all over him.
Another good 2017 prospect was Terrell Bynum, who, despite leaving early with cramping issues, was one of the two or three top offensive performers on the day. He has a chance to be one of the more coveted slots in the region in '17.
Linebackers
There was only one linebacker in attendance today who I thought looked like a Pac-12 player, and that was NorCal's Justin Rice. Reminded me a little bit of a poor man's Cameron Smith, the 2015 USC signee.
Mater Dei LB Curtis Robinson showed up to the event, but he was just there to watch. More on his recruitment down below.
Defensive backs
The best defensive back, in my opinion, was once again 2017 Bosco corner Keith Taylor. He locked down McKinley in their matchup early in the morning, holding the four-star to no catches. He's long at 6 feet 3, but he moves well too. I fully expect him to be a UCLA offeree down the road.
Troy Warner, DeChaun Holiday's teammate over at Mission Hills, had a really good day today too. He's versatile because he can play corner, safety and receiver, and he's also smooth and sticky in coverage. He kind of reminds me of Will Lockett. It wouldn't surprise me to see UCLA offer him either.
Four-star safety prospect Marquel Dismuke is leaner than I expected, but much shorter than I thought. He's only about 5 feet 10. He's got some nice coverage skills and flashed from time to time at safety, but I'm not sure his size will allow him to be a coveted Pac-12 recruit.
Four-star Bosco DB D.J. Morgan didn't have a great day at safety, often times coming too late to break up a pass. He didn't have a great junior year either. So not the best start to his spring.
Three-star Isaiah Hayes had a solid day running with Keyshawn Johnson's team, recording a few pass breakups.
Recruiting notes
-The vibe out there today was Jones and McKinley continue to lean to USC. Same with Lewis.
-Pittman, a UCLA commit, had a wild day of interviews. About five people interviewed him, and his answer to most was essentially, "I'm a soft verbal, and probably a likely decommit." But when I sat down and went in-depth with him, he told me he remains a commitment but he needs to see and hear more from UCLA's coaches when he takes an unofficial to Westwood this weekend. He said he's going to go to campus on Friday and if the visit goes well, he'll reaffirm his pledge. If it doesn't, he'll probably open up his recruitment. I'll have a full story up shortly with his quotes.
-With Burton, USC is still considered the favorite given his Serra connection. But he told me today Demetrice Martin is on him hard and really wants him at defensive back. He sounded interested, but it's so hard to rule out the SC lean here, especially now that he's re-establishing himself as an elite '16 prospect.
-Tate landed the UCLA offer a few days ago, and in a funny story, he told me when Scott Altenberg heard of the news, he told Tate, "Commit!" Tate actually said he grew up a UCLA fan and doesn't understand why everyone has him pinned for USC. He may visit UCLA soon.
-Bynum told me he's looking to visit UCLA this month. He said he's just waiting for Eric Yarber to get back from a mini vacation. He fully expects to land the UCLA offer when he gets to campus for that visit.
-Robinson confirmed with me that his mom did go to UCLA and she does teach at UCLA. She is pushing him toward Westwood, although Stanford remains a serious player here as well. He'll likely visit UCLA this weekend or next, and I'm hearing an offer is imminent.
-Warner - Fred Warner's little brother - told me he's very interested in UCLA and Martin actually hit him up this morning to wish him good luck in the tournament. It sounds like the Bruins would be the immediate favorite if / when they do offer, as Holiday has gassed the Bruins hard to the '16 DB. He's looking to visit UCLA soon as well.
