The official visit season meets elite camp season at this time of the year, with commitments and decommitments mixed all into it of course. Rivals national analyst John Garcia Jr. looks at the mesh of those check-points with help from Rivals national recruiting analysts Marshall Levenson and Greg Smith as well as OUInsider.com’s Parker Thune in the latest Fact or Fiction.
1. Julian Lewis, the nation’s No. 1 player, should be considered the favorite to win the Elite 11 Finals.
Levenson: FACT. Heading into the event, Lewis is the smart choice as the favorite. After all, he is the No. 1 prospect in the country. The participants will go through a gauntlet of drills and tests, and Lewis, who has shown to be the most smooth and polished to this point in his development, should have no problem crushing each and every drill. There are certainly guys who I am excited to see how they fare such as Keelon Russel, Tramell Jones and Tavien St. Clair, who all have had very big offseasons. But just as Lewis has continued to reprise his No. 1 national ranking, nothing suggests he will show any difference this week in Los Angeles.
Garcia: FICTION. Let’s lean on precedent for the most heated quarterback competition gauntlet out there, shall we? While Lewis is the top-ranked QB recruit coming into the event, and has the type of point guard game that typically holds up in this setting, the top-rated talent doesn’t often walk away with the Elite 11 MVP honors. The most recent was three cycles ago as Cade Klubnik went in as the favorite and held up. Spencer Rattler, in the class of 2019, was the most recent No. 1 to win before that. Shea Patterson, in the 2016 cycle, before that. So it happens every few years, at best, and this field feels loaded so give me ‘the field’ versus Lewis this time around.
RELATED: Gorney breaks down Elite 11 QBs
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2. After his official visit to Norman, Oklahoma is the top threat to Clemson for Rivals100 WR Cortez Mills.
Thune: FACT. The Sooners made a phenomenal impression on the four-star wideout over the weekend, which is a regular occurrence any time Oklahoma wide receivers coach Emmett Jones gets one of his targets in the film room. Mills is intrigued by the developmental potential that Jones and OU can offer, and the program culture in Norman definitely appeals to him as well. Somewhat surprisingly, there havenât been a ton of OU/Clemson battles on the recruiting trail in recent years, save for a few recruits that Brent Venables pursued at both schools (Sammy Brown and Drew Woodaz come to mind). But unless Miami can surge back into the picture on Millsâ upcoming OV to South Beach, this feels like itâll come down to the Tigers and the Sooners.
Garcia: FACT. With a small caveat â Miami is a real wildcard here. Clemson has been hot and cold with some top targets in the class and Mills has since backed off of his stance of having the Tigers atop his list. As recruiting often does, the momentum could revert back home to the longtime favorite Miami Hurricanes before all is said and done. There’s no doubt Oklahoma, hosting him twice in the last few months, has captured the attention of Mills enough to be considered the top threat to an ACC favorite. I’m just not sure it’s Clemson that should be placed atop that mantle this time around. Either way, it should be a fun battle over the next few weeks, as Mills isn’t expected to hold off a pledge very long.
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