CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR SUNDAY’S SHOWCASE
The Georgia Elite Classic Showcase this Sunday, July 15, is the next chance for the state’s rising football stars to qualify for one of seven All-Star Games this December. The Showcase will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Lassiter High School and will feature a variety of drills and head-to-head competition.
Rusty Mansell, 247Sports’ Georgia recruiting analyst and head of the Georgia Elite Classic selection committee, will lead a staff of evaluators consisting of high school coaches from the Metro Atlanta area.
Rising sixth- through 12th-graders are eligible to participate in the Showcase. Registration is $60 on GeorgiaEliteClassic.com before the event, and walk-up registration the morning of the Showcase is $70.
The athletes in the Showcase will be put through a dynamic warmup before they are divided into groups and rotated through the following testing stations for measurements: 40-yard dash, agility shuttle and broad jump. The players will get two attempts at each station. After those stations are completed, players will be divided once again and evaluated on their performance in position-specific drills, 1-on-1s and 2-on-2s. Immediately following the Showcase, the results of each player’s performance will go out to more than 250 colleges and their coaching staffs. The Showcase will record verified heights and weights as well as 40-yard-dash and drill times.
After April’s Showcase, 17 participants were extended invitations to play in one of the seven Georgia Elite Classic all-star games at McEachern High School on Dec. 27 and 28.
The five-game high school lineup on Friday, Dec. 28, will continue to feature talented underclassmen, nationally ranked juniors and the best uncommitted seniors. Last December’s games were closely contested, with the Sophomore and Senior games both being decided by three points. Rising senior Zach Calzada, a quarterback from Lanier, recently committed to Texas A&M after gaining exposure in the Junior game, in which he passed for 229 yards.
The Georgia Elite Classic will also hold its inaugural Brain Bowl in between the Junior and Senior all-star games. Player nominations for Team Einstein and Team Hawking opened on March 1 at GeorgiaEliteClassic.com; in order to be eligible, players must provide proof of a 3.0 GPA, a combined three-part SAT score of at least 1500 and an ACT score of at least 22. Coaches from such conferences as the Ivy League, Patriot League and New England Small College Athletic Conference have been drawn to the Peach State for years, and small conferences featuring top-notch schools are expected to work closely throughout the year with the Georgia Elite Classic.
The 2018 Georgia Elite Classic will feature a seventh-grade game for the first time. The event featured an eighth-grade game in its first two years, 2013 and 2014, and will renew that event this December. The inaugural eighth-grade matchup featured many recent signees, as Florida freshman Emory Jones of Heard County and UNC freshman Cade Fortin of North Gwinnett quarterbacked the teams. Center Warren Ericson (North Gwinnett, Georgia), wide receiver Zach Williams (Johns Creek, Arizona) and cornerback Kyler McMichael (Greater Atlanta Christian, Clemson) were just a few of the stars to play in the 2013 game. The 2014 eighth-grade game featured current senior stars such as outside linebacker Owen Pappoe (Grayson, Auburn commit), wide receiver Dominick Blaylock (Walton, UGA) and running back Steele Chambers (Blessed Trinity, Ohio State), to name a few. The middle school games will be played Thursday evening, Dec. 27.
For more information, go to GeorgiaEliteClassic.com and don’t forget to sign up for Sunday’s showcase at Lassiter High School by Clicking Here.