I spent a good chunk of Saturday morning and early afternoon at L.D. Bell High School in Hurst at its 7-on-7 State Qualifying Tournament (SQT) on what was the last week for teams to qualify for the state tournament. I didn't get much in the way of interesting info or intelligence and there were very few UTSA targets there, but it was worth the trip (and the sunburn), and it was good to be able to get out to events like that after having not attended a SQT in two years. Here are a few tidbits that might be of interest.
* With every coach that I talked to I asked if UTSA had sent a coach to their campus since the new staff was hired. Everybody either definitively said UTSA had visited in the spring, or said they thought they had, with the one exception being defending TAPPS Division I state champions Prestonwood Christian Academy in Plano, which would be odd if true since their 2018 cornerback Verone McKinley III is listed as having a UTSA offer. I didn't get to see McKinley do much more than line up, as the opponent really never threw the ball in his direction while I was watching. He's a four-star prospect and has 20+ offers already so there's almost zero chance he'll end up in San Antonio.
* Prestonwood also has a 2018 QB/athlete prospect worth keeping an eye on in M.J. Rivers, who was offered by Iowa State recently. I asked what position he was offered at but Prestonwood's coach didn't know for sure. Prestonwood just graduated a three-year starter at QB and Rivers is one of the leading candidates to replace him this fall. He looked good throwing the ball on Saturday, but I think it's just as likely he ends up at LB as QB in college. He's already 6'3" at least and looks like he has plenty of room to add weight. His father is former NFL tight end Marcellus Rivers, who, for what it's worth, played at Oklahoma State.
* My favorite Prestonwood player I watched was senior receiver Hayden Wolken, who did nothing but get open and make catches when the ball was within his reach on play after play. He only had two catches during the 2015 season, as Prestonwood had a senior-dominated corps of receivers, but if he plays this fall like he did on Saturday, he'll surpass that total before the end of the 1st quarter in his first game. I'd guess he was somewhere in the neighborhood of 6'-6'1" and 170-180 lbs. He ran well and showed good hands but I can't say he's a D1 level kid until I see him produce some good Friday night film. He may be at least as good as some of the WRs UTSA has brought in as preferred walk-ons in recent years.
* A new varsity player to watch for Prestonwood will be sophomore tight end Austin Stogner, who coaches told me was already 6'4". He might be closer to 6'6" by the time he graduates if he keeps growing. He caught a few passes and moved reasonably well for a soon-to-be 10th grader of his size, but he also was called for offensive pass interference a time or two. He's got tight end size for sure.
* I talked for a couple of minutes with 2017 wide receiver Reggie Roberson, who committed to Kansas a month ago. He formerly attended Dallas Bishop Dunne but transferred to Mesquite Horn a few weeks ago. He's a good-looking athlete and stands a tall 6'1". He has a UTSA offer and told me he still talks to them occasionally, specifically WR coach Jeff Kastl and another assistant whose name he couldn't recall. He's friends with some of the other Metroplex recruits who are also committed to Kansas and really likes the new KU staff, and said he was pretty solidly committed. I applaud UTSA for staying in touch with him but I think we can rule out him signing there.
* There were talented QBs all over the L.D. Bell campus on Saturday: 2017 Oklahoma commit Chris Robison (Mesquite Horn), 2018 QB/Ath M.J. Rivers (Plano Prestonwood Christian), 2018 Alan Bowman (Grapevine), and 2018 Cade Fennegan (Dallas Woodrow Wilson) being the primary ones, but one of the most impressive was 2018 recruit Chance Amie (Tyler Lee). He took over at the position and started for much of the 2015 season after an injury to senior star Zach Hall (who signed with Stephen F. Austin). Tyler Lee has a new head coach in Clayton George, who played at North Texas and was later an assistant under Todd Dodge both at Southlake Carroll and UNT. He hasn't coached Chance Amie in an actual game, and didn't get to work with him a ton in the spring because of Amie playing point guard on the basketball team, but it was clear that he believed Amie was a D1-level talent, and at 6'2"-6'3" and 190 or so, he definitely looks the part. Coach George said one of his assistants knows Frank Wilson pretty well, so UTSA has that going for them if they decide to pursue Amie for their 2018 class.
* While talking to a group of parents and siblings watching a team from Haslet Eaton (a new program in the fast-growing Northwest ISD north of Fort Worth) I met a guy who said he was acquainted with Josiah Tauaefa because of the two having a mutual friend. He spoke highly of Tauaefa and said he was one of the most impressive high school players he'd seen, but he was unaware of what college he'd ended up at, thinking Tauaefa was at UTEP instead of UTSA. I think he was just as surprised when I told him UTSA had moved him to middle linebacker from the defensive line.
* With every coach that I talked to I asked if UTSA had sent a coach to their campus since the new staff was hired. Everybody either definitively said UTSA had visited in the spring, or said they thought they had, with the one exception being defending TAPPS Division I state champions Prestonwood Christian Academy in Plano, which would be odd if true since their 2018 cornerback Verone McKinley III is listed as having a UTSA offer. I didn't get to see McKinley do much more than line up, as the opponent really never threw the ball in his direction while I was watching. He's a four-star prospect and has 20+ offers already so there's almost zero chance he'll end up in San Antonio.
* Prestonwood also has a 2018 QB/athlete prospect worth keeping an eye on in M.J. Rivers, who was offered by Iowa State recently. I asked what position he was offered at but Prestonwood's coach didn't know for sure. Prestonwood just graduated a three-year starter at QB and Rivers is one of the leading candidates to replace him this fall. He looked good throwing the ball on Saturday, but I think it's just as likely he ends up at LB as QB in college. He's already 6'3" at least and looks like he has plenty of room to add weight. His father is former NFL tight end Marcellus Rivers, who, for what it's worth, played at Oklahoma State.
* My favorite Prestonwood player I watched was senior receiver Hayden Wolken, who did nothing but get open and make catches when the ball was within his reach on play after play. He only had two catches during the 2015 season, as Prestonwood had a senior-dominated corps of receivers, but if he plays this fall like he did on Saturday, he'll surpass that total before the end of the 1st quarter in his first game. I'd guess he was somewhere in the neighborhood of 6'-6'1" and 170-180 lbs. He ran well and showed good hands but I can't say he's a D1 level kid until I see him produce some good Friday night film. He may be at least as good as some of the WRs UTSA has brought in as preferred walk-ons in recent years.
* A new varsity player to watch for Prestonwood will be sophomore tight end Austin Stogner, who coaches told me was already 6'4". He might be closer to 6'6" by the time he graduates if he keeps growing. He caught a few passes and moved reasonably well for a soon-to-be 10th grader of his size, but he also was called for offensive pass interference a time or two. He's got tight end size for sure.
* I talked for a couple of minutes with 2017 wide receiver Reggie Roberson, who committed to Kansas a month ago. He formerly attended Dallas Bishop Dunne but transferred to Mesquite Horn a few weeks ago. He's a good-looking athlete and stands a tall 6'1". He has a UTSA offer and told me he still talks to them occasionally, specifically WR coach Jeff Kastl and another assistant whose name he couldn't recall. He's friends with some of the other Metroplex recruits who are also committed to Kansas and really likes the new KU staff, and said he was pretty solidly committed. I applaud UTSA for staying in touch with him but I think we can rule out him signing there.
* There were talented QBs all over the L.D. Bell campus on Saturday: 2017 Oklahoma commit Chris Robison (Mesquite Horn), 2018 QB/Ath M.J. Rivers (Plano Prestonwood Christian), 2018 Alan Bowman (Grapevine), and 2018 Cade Fennegan (Dallas Woodrow Wilson) being the primary ones, but one of the most impressive was 2018 recruit Chance Amie (Tyler Lee). He took over at the position and started for much of the 2015 season after an injury to senior star Zach Hall (who signed with Stephen F. Austin). Tyler Lee has a new head coach in Clayton George, who played at North Texas and was later an assistant under Todd Dodge both at Southlake Carroll and UNT. He hasn't coached Chance Amie in an actual game, and didn't get to work with him a ton in the spring because of Amie playing point guard on the basketball team, but it was clear that he believed Amie was a D1-level talent, and at 6'2"-6'3" and 190 or so, he definitely looks the part. Coach George said one of his assistants knows Frank Wilson pretty well, so UTSA has that going for them if they decide to pursue Amie for their 2018 class.
* While talking to a group of parents and siblings watching a team from Haslet Eaton (a new program in the fast-growing Northwest ISD north of Fort Worth) I met a guy who said he was acquainted with Josiah Tauaefa because of the two having a mutual friend. He spoke highly of Tauaefa and said he was one of the most impressive high school players he'd seen, but he was unaware of what college he'd ended up at, thinking Tauaefa was at UTEP instead of UTSA. I think he was just as surprised when I told him UTSA had moved him to middle linebacker from the defensive line.
