The Opening, Nike’s high school football showcase, started a couple of days ago and will go through the weekend as 166 of the nation’s top prospects will compete in a (mostly) non-padded football skills competition in Beaverton, Ore.
SEC programs will be represented at The Opening although maybe not as well as they have been in past years. There will be 25 verbal commits from SEC programs at the event but it isn’t very spread out.
SEC schools with commits at The Opening:
Alabama 7
Georgia 7
LSU 6
Ole Miss 2
Auburn 1
Tennessee 1
Texas A&M 1
This either says a lot about the classes that Alabama, Georgia and LSU are building or it says the SEC recruiting isn’t as deep as past years up to this point in the summer. I disagree with that. This is the first year that the event will have no verbal commits from Florida. Both of Florida’s in-state rivals, FSU (5) and Miami (1) will be represented at the event.
There are also plenty of prospects leaning to SEC programs and those players will be mentioned elsewhere on this site.
As for non-SEC schools, Ohio State has an impressive 11 commits attending the event while Oklahoma has eight and Michigan has six. Clemson, who played Alabama in the championship game last season, has five commits at The Opening.
Here are the SEC verbal commitments participating in the Opening.
| Player | Position | ESPN Ranking | Committed to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Najee Harris | Running back | 5 stars | Alabama |
| Robert Beal | Defensive end | 5 stars | Georgia |
| Alex Leatherwood | Offensive tackle | 5 stars | Alabama |
| Richard LeCounte III | Safety | 5 stars | Georgia |
| Austin Deculus | Offensive tackle | 4 stars | LSU |
| Tyler Shevin | Defensive tackle | 4 stars | LSU |
| Calvin Ashley | Offensive tackle | 4 stars | Auburn |
| Markail Benton | Linebacker | 4 stars | Alabama |
| William Poole III | Cornerback | 4 stars | Georgia |
| D.D. Bowie | Wide receiver | 4 stars | Ole Miss |
| Maleik Gray | Linebacker | 4 stars | Tennessee |
| Xavier McKinney | Safety | 4 stars | Alabama |
| Tua Tagovailoa | Quarterback | 4 stars | Alabama |
| Jake Fromm | Quarterback | 4 stars | Georgia |
| Tyrell Shavers | Wide receiver | 4 stars | Alabama |
| D’Antne Demery | Offensive tackle | 4 stars | Georgia |
| Jhamon Ausbon | Wide receiver | 4 stars | LSU |
| Willie Gay | Linebacker | 4 stars | Ole Miss |
| Jaden Hunter | Linebacker | 4 stars | Georgia |
| Myles Brennan | Quarterback | 4 stars | LSU |
| Vandarius Cowan | Linebacker | 4 stars | Alabama |
| Clyde Edwards-Helaire | Running back | 4 stars | LSU |
| Saahdiq Charles | Offensive guard | 4 stars | LSU |
| Trey Blount | Wide receiver | 4 stars | Georgia |
| Creed Humphrey | Center | 3 stars | Texas A&M |
Corey Long is a freelance writer for SaturdayDownSouth.com. Follow Corey on Twitter @CoreyLong.
