These high school football players from Kansas, Missouri are SI All-America finalists
Sports Illustrated recently released a lineup of 2020 All-America high school football team candidates, the first such extensive list it has assembled, and it includes six Kansas City-area players.
Arland Bruce IV (Olathe North High) and Dorian Stephens (Blue Valley) represented the Kansas side of the KC state line, while Jermaine Hamilton-Jordan and Tobechi Okoli (both from Lincoln Prep), Jaylin Noel (Park Hill) and Beau Stephens (Blue Springs) were recognized among the top Missouri players.
Out of the 1,000 athletes placed on the watch list, six are from Kansas and 15 from Missouri. The All-America roster will be cut to 250 finalists in October, then down to 99 in November before just 25 players are named first-team Sports Illustrated All-America.
Kansas finalists
John Garcia, Sports Illustrated’s director of recruiting, said the Kansas seniors on the list have great size that will allow them to compete and play right away.
“In Kansas, these kids look college ready today,” Garcia said. “It’s so important in how college coaches evaluate and manage that roster because their proverbial lease is shorter than ever in terms of stability.
“Anybody who’s that much more physically prepared to contribute is going to get the benefit of the doubt and I think that’s sort of the prevailing thought in Kansas specifically.”
Of the six, four are planning to stay in the state of Kansas for college. DaVonte Pritchard, Dorian Stephens and Austin Weiner have verbally committed to Kansas State, while three-star running back Devin Neal has committed to Kansas.
The remaining two players from Kansas on the SI 1000 list — reigning Simone Award-winner Bruce IV and Noah Bolticoff — are heading to Iowa and TCU, respectively.
According to 247Sports, Lawrence High’s Neal is the top running back in Kansas and is the second highest-rated commit in Kansas’ class so far. Gardner Edgerton’s Pritchard, also a three-star recruit, is the second best recruit Kansas State has in its class to this point in the recruiting process.
“It is absolutely paramount to keep those kids home, to keep those kids within state lines,” Garcia said. “You expect the state to grow and you expect more schools to recruit that state. ... The more those doors are theoretically open for those other schools, the more they will continue to come.”
Missouri finalists
The state of Missouri made up a larger portion of the roster as 15 players were named to the All-America team. The fifteen selected came from a wide range of schools, mostly coming from the Kansas City and St. Louis areas.
Of the four KC finalists, all but one are committed to universities in the Midwest. Noel — who didn’t even know about the nomination before The Star reached out to him for comment — has verbally committed to Iowa State; Beau Stephens will also head up north with a verbal commitment to Iowa; Hamilton-Jordan, a three-star linebacker, committed to Arkansas on May 3.
“It’s pretty cool to know that people know that I’m there and I have a talent, but now I want to keep working hard to hopefully become an All-American,” Noel said.
Hamilton-Jordan’s high school teammate, Okoli, is the lone player from that group who hasn’t committed yet, as he is fielding offers from local schools such as Missouri and Kansas State, as well as Auburn, Georgia, Michigan, Nebraska and Oklahoma.
Garcia said Okoli is at his best when he’s coming downhill and affecting the passing game but could potentially play inside as a defensive tackle, depending on which school he chooses.
“I’m really curious to see physically how he develops,” Garcia said. “Is he going inside? Or is he going to be one of these big five-tech, seven-technique edge guys who can set the edge versus the rub, but still affect the passing game as well.”
Connor Tollison (Jackson, Missouri) is one of six from the list to commit to his home-state school Mizzou. Ryan Hoerstkamp, Taj Butts, Mehki Wingo, Travion Ford and Tyler Hibbler (all from eastern Missouri) will join Tollison in Columbia. Kaden McCullen (O’Fallon, Missouri) is also on the short list, with Okoli as a top target for the Tigers.
Season concerns
The 21 athletes from Kansas and Missouri are lucky enough to have a season ahead of them for now. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly postponed the start of classes for K-12 schools until after Labor Day, which means all Kansas State High School Activities Association events are pushed until after Sept. 7.
Not only does it delay the start for several nominees on the Kansas list, but Okoli and Hamilton-Jordan were scheduled to play Sumner Academy on Sept. 18. Hamilton-Jordan said there is uncertainty about whether the game is still on as scheduled.
Hamilton-Jordan and Noel said they plan to prepare and work toward a season because, despite concern about their senior year, they know they will have seasons coming up at their universities.
“As of right now, we just have to go day-by-day,” Hamilton-Jordan said. “Even if we don’t have a season, I know I still have to put the work in because I’ll be shooting off to Arkansas.”
Garcia said that for players who won’t have a senior season, colleges will have to rely a lot more on the high school video tape. When compiling the list for Sports Illustrated, Garcia did what many college coaches and recruiters will have to do: use extensive research, make a lot of phone calls and find additional resources to learn about players.
But what the tape doesn’t show is how a player had physically matured and grown since what is on the recording.
“It’s really forced us to go back to the foundation of what we want to look for on the field,” Garcia said. “But, conversely, we obviously lost that supplemental evaluation point. And, maybe most importantly, we lost that physical progression update because a lot of these kids we haven’t seen since November (or) December, you know, we’re in mid-to-late July now.”
If teams do play in the spring — like schools are planning to do in California — recruits wouldn’t have a lot of turnaround time before heading back to the college, raising injury concerns for seniors. But for many players, including Noel, they’re just focused on getting better for the future.
“I am worried that there won’t be a fall season, but I just have to keep working hard and hope for the best,” Noel said.
Full Kansas list, alphabetically, by school
Dorian Stephens (Blue Valley)
Davonte Pritchard (Gardner Edgerton)
Austin Weiner (Gardner Edgerton)
Devin Neal (Lawrence High)
Arland Bruce IV (Olathe North)
Noah Bolticoff (Rose Hill)
Full Missouri list, alphabetically, by school
Beau Stephens (Blue Springs)
Taj Butts (DeSmet)
Brody Wisecarver (DeSmet)
Jakailin Johnson (DeSmet Jesuit)
Mekhi Wingo (DeSmet Jesuit)
Connor Tollison (Jackson)
Jermaine Hamilton-Jordan (Lincoln Prep)
Tobechi Okoli (Lincoln Prep)
Kaden McMullen (O’Fallon Living Word Christian)
Travion Ford (St. Peters Lutheran)
Gabriel Rubio (St. Peters Lutheran)
Jaylin Noel (Park Hill)
Demetrius Cannon (Trinity Catholic)
Tyler Hibbler (Trinity Catholic)
Ryan Hoerstkamp (Washington)