Austin Peay Camp Brings Out Top Talent

It was a warm and muggy but beautiful Friday for football last night where the Austin Peay football coaching staff hosted their 1st college camp of the summer and by the end of the event, everybody in attendance was impressed with the Governors program. The energy was high from the jump, kicked off by Govs head coach Scotty Walden. The 1st year Austin Peay football coach is a young, energetic guy who loves the game of football and enjoys teaching young men. You could see how engaged the kids were with him all night long as well as the rest of the Governors coaching staff. Before any action took place on the field, the Austin Peay staff already had the kids ready to run through a brick wall, so you knew a great camp was upcoming. Beginning to look at the talent on hand, we had some big time players in attendance, including several quarterbacks who had bright and shining moments throughout camp last night. Among the standouts include Independence (QB) [player_tooltip player_id="150811" first="Joseph" last="Cummings"], Brentwood (QB) [player_tooltip player_id="102164" first="Davis" last="White"], Mt. Juliet (QB) [player_tooltip player_id="102160" first="Stephen" last="Swoner"], MTCS (QB) [player_tooltip player_id="102145" first="Aden" last="Hooper"] and Tullahoma (QB) Ryan Scott. Cummings had a great day showing off his arm strength and excellent mechanics. White's biggest strength was his accuracy and mobility in the pocket. Swoner was one of the better athletes at quarterback and had one of his best throwing days of the entire offseason. Hooper and Scott both have big arms and displayed that consistently all night long. The skill players on offense had a solid showing last night with two youngsters stealing the show. Mt. Juliet (Ath) [player_tooltip player_id="153474" first="Osize" last="Daniyan"] (2023) and [player_tooltip player_id="149166" first="Ondre" last="Evans"] (2024) from Pearl Cohn are both two young but big and athletic receivers that can work deep or the intermediate. Both prospects received offers from the Govs after the camp performances. A certain rising senior in Davidson Acad. (TN) tight end [player_tooltip player_id="102152" first="Brown" last="Norton"] was easily the best prospect at his position and was one of the favorites for the Austin Peay coaching staff. Norton is a well built young man that moves very well and provides a variety of skills to the tight end position. His stock should continue to rise over the summer months and I fully expect to see offers float his way sooner than later. We didn't have a deep O-line group last night at Brentwood Academy but we did have some star power at the top. Leading the way was Tullahoma (OG) [player_tooltip player_id="102031" first="Ian" last="Poe"]. The Wildcats stud lineman showed off his mobility and developing explosion during drills and then proceeded to look stout during 1 on 1 competition. Three other standouts included current FCS offered and Portland (OG) [player_tooltip player_id="119001" first="Garrett" last="Smith"], Davidson Acad. two way lineman [player_tooltip player_id="102047" first="Jalen" last="Brockman"] and recent addition to IMG Academy (FL) in offensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id="118715" first="Ryan" last="Hacker"]. Both these guys showed strong technique and mobility playing in the middle. Hacker has the ability to possibly play outside at tackle if developed further. Switching over to the other side of the ball, the collection of defensive linemen that we had at the Austin Peay camp was quite strong, led by multi offered prospect [player_tooltip player_id="102030" first="Kendyle" last="Ball"] from Davidson Academy. Standing 6'3 230 pounds, Ball has put on some good weight and he uses it well. The Bears senior defensive end shows strong edge quickness and with the added weight, can become a bigger force against the run. Other top prospects along the defensive line from last night include [player_tooltip player_id="151047" first="Austyn" last="Keen"] from Beech, [player_tooltip player_id="102135" first="Bo" last="Chance"] from CPA and Franklin Admiral rising senior [player_tooltip player_id="102127" first="Shane" last="Siffrard"]. Keen and Chance both had stand out moments during camp, especially in 1 on 1 competition where both guys displayed the quick first step and ability to get after the ball in the backfield. It was a small group of linebackers at camp but the top guy to mention here is Brentwood (TN) senior to be [player_tooltip player_id="152996" first="Seth" last="Carter"]. The 6'2 205 pound athletic and instinctual linebacker put on a show at the Governors camps, showing off his ability to drop and cover while also showing sideline to sideline range. Watch for the guy to blow up in the recruiting scene very soon! <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-144409" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/05/Seth-Carter.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" /> Out of all the positions last night, the defensive backs had the deepest collection of talent with multiple prospects having stand out performances. The MVP for the defensive backs had to be Cane Ridge (Sr) [player_tooltip player_id="102076" first="Devin" last="Storey"]. The Ravens star defender is one of the more underrated talents we have right now and he sits without any offers. Storey was all over the field last night and I do not remember many passes being caught against him. Two other 2022 defensive backs in [player_tooltip player_id="153063" first="Najai" last="Watson"] from Riverdale and [player_tooltip player_id="153045" first="Kavon" last="Coffee"] from Pearl Cohn had really strong days as well. Watson is a fluid and instinctual ball hawk that is always around the ball and Coffee is a big time competitor that fits very well at nickel back. Portland (TN) rising junior [player_tooltip player_id="102220" first="Braylon" last="Dowlen"] and Brentwood Acad. (TN) defensive back [player_tooltip player_id="102097" first="Kaleb" last="Lyons"] are two others to mention as both had impressive moments throughout camp. Overall, this was a well run camp with high energy and a coaching staff that was engaged with every young aspiring football prospect on the field the entire night, teaching and guiding them all every step of the way. The Austin Peay football program might have a new staff at the helm but they are excited about their future and definitely excited about the talent in this state and recruiting it to Clarksville, Tennessee.