(Photo: Gerard Martinez, 247Sports: Thaddeus Breaux)
The class of 2029 was on display Saturday at the Under The Radar Straight Baller Camp, which included many eighth grade prospects that will very much be on the radar next season.
Last year, Miami (Fla.) quarterback Neimann Lawrence won camp MVP, while Las Vegas (Nev.) quarterback Ace Amina dazzled as a dual-threat. Lawrence threw for 2,777 yards and 31 touchdowns as a freshman before transferring to Northwestern. Amina got snaps for Bishop Gorman last season and already holds 18 scholarship offers.
This year, Thaddeus "T-Breaux" Breaux took the spotlight with an even more impressive performance. In addition to winning the strongest arm competition with a 63-yard toss, Breaux put the football on a rope throughout one-on-ones. At a solid 6-foot-3, Breaux is set to enroll at Los Angeles (Calif.) Hamilton High School next season to play for Elijah Asante.
Asante led Los Angeles (Calif.) Jordan to prominence before moving on to coach in Georgia. Asante predicts that Breaux will be his best prospect he's ever coached at the position and Saturday reinforced those sentiments.
Performance wise, Breaux was hard to beat, but Saturday's camp was stacked with future stars. Quarterback Brent Burnor was the only player at his position to make the final group of the fastest man competition. Burnor is headed to Mission Viejo next fall and will give the Diablos a nice run-threat option at quarterback.
Jeremy Mellileiu may have been the most polished passer of the camp; throwing with the best combination of accuracy and velocity underneath. Mellileau will play at Chaminade in the fall. Ezra Brown, the younger brother of Stanford quarterback Elijah Brown, also had a good outing throwing a very catchable ball.
The Los Angeles Rams youth program spawned the well-known "Rampage" teams. This year, running back Jayden Jack and tight end Stephan Harrison were two notable performers from the 2029 crop of Ram prospects.
There were some sources at the camp that felt Jack was the best prospect in attendance from his production at the youth level of football. Technically, Jack is a 2030 prospect as he is expected to play for the Rams against this year. With family ties in Las Vegas, Jack could end up at Bishop Gorman. Harrison, who is all of 6-foot-3, 240-pounds, is cleaning toward attending Sierra Canyon next fall.
It was a camp where several skill players could project into linemen in two years.
(Photo: Gerard Martinez, 247Sports: Kaleb Herndon and Stephan Harrison L-R)
Harrison is an intriguing prospect as a jumbo athlete that may grow into a defensive lineman down the line. He and OG Ducks defensive end/tight end Kaleb Herndon both towered over the other skill players at the camp.
Offensive linemen and defensive linemen participated with the skill players this year. Of all of the positions to project long term, linemen are always the hardest to evaluate this early in their development. Seven Faumuina and Adam Ilollo have been impressive performers at multiple events. Ilollo is from Upland (Calif.), but he will attend Santa Margarita Catholic next fall.
The wide receivers and defensive backs tend to garner the most focus at non-contact camps because they are positions that can showcase essential attributes without contact. In this respect, the camp had some players lining up out of position in order to demonstrate their athleticism in space.
According to 247Sports Rankings Analyst Greg Biggins, Kuika Moaalii was perhaps the best safety prospect at the Polynesian Bowl Camp in Las Vegas in March. Moaalii played mostly receiver Saturday, but at 6-foot-2, pushing 6-foot-3 as a middle schooler, he is a skilled athlete with the size to eventually patrol the line of scrimmage as a linebacker or apex defender.
Moaalii and wide receiver Kingston Fatu, who had some nice circus catches during one-on-ones, will play at Bishop Montgomery next fall. Note, a stand out performer from last year's camp, 2028 running back Derrick Jackson, was on hand to watch the event. Jackson has also transferred to Bishop Montgomery from Narbonne. Bishop Montgomery will open in Hawaii against St. Louis High School and then play Mater Dei in the Santa Ana Bowl to open the season.
The Orange team was stacked Saturday. In addition to Jack, Moaalii and Fatu, that team also featured Sosene Schuster and Makai Buchanan. Schuster is the cousin of Juju Smith-Schuster, who played for USC. Another potential jumbo-athlete, Sosene has the build of a future linebacker.
Two of the better performers at cornerback also came from the vaunted Orange group. Prentice Jones Jr. is a good looking defensive back standing 6-foot, 170-pounds, who also made the final group of the fastest man competition. Jones is out of Long Beach and is being pursued by Poly, Bishop Montgomery and others.
Maybe the smoothest, stickies cornerback at the camp was OC Buckeyes product Isaiah Danns. While not as big as Jones in stature, Danns was step-for-step with just about every wide receiver we saw him go against. In some instances, he ran better routes than the wide receivers attempting to get open.
King Baraka is another defensive back that earned mention. Not only does he have a name etched in fighting game lore, Baraka is a long, tall cornerback that saw every team's best Saturday and Sunday. Baraka's football lore started in the OG Ducks and Winner Circle youth programs, so he is a known commodity for high schools all over the Southland.
His matchups with 6-foot-3, 190-pound wide receiver Anthony Uzondu were just a preview of what we will see in the CIF Playoffs in years to come. Uzondu is headed to St. John Bosco and is one of the most physically impressive looking wide receivers to come out of the OG Ducks youth program in years. Already rocking a Ohio State arm sleeve, Uzondu is already making the rounds on college unofficial visits as well.