What to watch for in Under Armour All-America Game
The Class of 2015's best high school football players will take the field for a final time on Friday night, as the eighth-annual Under Armour All-American game kicks off at 4:00 p.m. EST at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
More than 90 high school seniors will be split into two teams, Team Armour and Team Highlight. Former NFL coaches Herman Edwards and Steve Mariucci will lead the way.
Look for quarterbacks Brandon Wimbush, Kylar Murray, and Josh Rosen leading Team Armour, while Blake Barnett, Deondre Francois, and Jarrett Stidham will be calling the shots for Team Highlight.
There was a time when All-American games were a chance for the nation's elite to finally meet face-to-face, but for this year's crowd, the game is more of a reunion. It's a opportunity to hang out with the friends they've made at college camps and summer showcase events, guys they kept in touch with through Twitter and Facebook even as they played out their high school seasons on opposite sides of the country, and, for some, to link up with teammates they'll suit up beside next year.
Barnett is one of the 12 Alabama verbal commits suiting up, but was originally committed to Notre Dame. After he flipped, Notre Dame pursued Wimbush, convincing him to flip from his original verbal commitment to Penn State. The Fighting Irish have four verbals playing; Penn State has three.
Florida State has the second highest total behind Alabama, with eight commits playing. Oregon and Ohio State each have two, Michigan has three.
At least seven players are expected to make their college announcements during or shortly after the game, including Anthony Wheeler, Kendall Sheffield, Tim Settle, Daron Payne, Ronald Jones II, Breiden Fehoko, and Tyron Johnson.
The players arrived earlier this week, giving them to time to train with each other, pick up advice from former NFL coaches and go through the press gauntlet. There were photo shoots and interview galore, giving them a taste of their future.
For some of them, including Barnett, that future starts as early as next week, as they graduated high school early in order to get a jump start. Others will have to wait until May and June high school graduations before heading to their respective future campuses. But for one more day, they're high school football stars, the best in the nation and at the top of the world.
The game will stream live on ESPN2 at 4:00 p.m.
