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Wes Mitchell
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Will Helms and I were at Northwestern High Friday for the pool play portion of the Cam Newton 7-on-7 tournament, which featured 24 teams from North Carolina and South Carolina to check out a couple of prospects.
** Arguably the best prospect in attendance was Westwood cornerback Cam Smith. This was my third time getting the opportunity to watch Smith move and I think Rivals got it right by moving him to a four-star prospect. As I've mentioned multiple times, Smith's length stands out off the hoof, but it's when you add his change of direction that makes him a highly coveted prospect.
We watched Smith go up against Florida State quarterback commit Sam Howell and at one point Howell tried to thread the needle to the receiver that Smith was blanketing. The receiver ran a deep comeback route with Smith in one-on-one coverage - Smith sunk his hips, stopped his momentum and cut to the football, beating the receiver to the spot to pick it off. He almost had another interception in the game and batted a pass away as well. He's a nice kid off the field but there's a competitiveness that comes out on the field.
Word out of Westwood is that South Carolina (obviously) and Georgia are the two programs to watch with Smith but ultimately I believe the Gamecocks are in the best spot.
** We also had the chance to watch and catch up with Northwestern wide receiver and South Carolina standout Jamario Holley. Holley is a slot receiver all the way and is one of those guys who appears to get to top speed effortlessly. Northwestern didn't give him the ball much in the games I happened to watch, but the talent is there. In talking to someone from the area who has seen him way more than I have, I was told he can take over a game at the high school level and make it look easy doing it. He's right up there with some of the greats that have come from the Rock Hill area.
In speaking with Holley, he said that he's not entertaining any other schools at all and is 100 percent committed. He enjoyed being in Columbia last week for the Gamecocks' 7-on-7 and also enjoyed meeting his future quarterback Ryan Hilinski.
** Arguably the best prospect in attendance was Westwood cornerback Cam Smith. This was my third time getting the opportunity to watch Smith move and I think Rivals got it right by moving him to a four-star prospect. As I've mentioned multiple times, Smith's length stands out off the hoof, but it's when you add his change of direction that makes him a highly coveted prospect.
We watched Smith go up against Florida State quarterback commit Sam Howell and at one point Howell tried to thread the needle to the receiver that Smith was blanketing. The receiver ran a deep comeback route with Smith in one-on-one coverage - Smith sunk his hips, stopped his momentum and cut to the football, beating the receiver to the spot to pick it off. He almost had another interception in the game and batted a pass away as well. He's a nice kid off the field but there's a competitiveness that comes out on the field.
Word out of Westwood is that South Carolina (obviously) and Georgia are the two programs to watch with Smith but ultimately I believe the Gamecocks are in the best spot.
** We also had the chance to watch and catch up with Northwestern wide receiver and South Carolina standout Jamario Holley. Holley is a slot receiver all the way and is one of those guys who appears to get to top speed effortlessly. Northwestern didn't give him the ball much in the games I happened to watch, but the talent is there. In talking to someone from the area who has seen him way more than I have, I was told he can take over a game at the high school level and make it look easy doing it. He's right up there with some of the greats that have come from the Rock Hill area.
In speaking with Holley, he said that he's not entertaining any other schools at all and is 100 percent committed. He enjoyed being in Columbia last week for the Gamecocks' 7-on-7 and also enjoyed meeting his future quarterback Ryan Hilinski.
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