2024 MHSAA Showcases: My Preeminent 11 Standouts

<p>It was an amazing, busy, hectic week of MHSAA Evaluation camps. I cannot say enough good things about how every one of these camps were run. The MHSAA did a truly extraordinary job with these showcases, and I'm looking forward to attending every MHSAA eval camp as long as they run them. This article highlights the BEST 11 prospects I watched this week! </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">QB | [player_tooltip player_id='247694' first='James' last='Young']<a href="https://prepredzone.com/player/james-young/"></a> | Muskegon |<a href="https://twitter.com/James_4_Young"> @James_4_Young</a> </h2>   <p>James was the most impressive quarterback of the entire week. At the start of the camp, I saw coach Fairfield pointing out his "New Quarterback" to college coaches. Little did I know that the new quarterback was [player_tooltip player_id='247694' first='James' last='Young'], formerly from a smaller school in North Muskegon. There will be a time where I'll talk about his fit with the team, but today isn't that day. His performance throwing the football was incredible. James consistently got the ball out very quickly and was throwing the football with amazing confidence, throw power, timing, and accuracy. Better yet, I wasn't even scouting QBs at this camp. He was impossible to miss, and I hope be gets the attention he deserves this summer. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">QB | [player_tooltip player_id='1298633' first='Hunter' last='Garza'] | Deckerville | <a href="https://twitter.com/Huntergarza2025">@Huntergarza2025</a></h2>   <p>I am so incredibly glad that Garza decided to attend the HAWK AM showcase, and I'm grateful that one of his coaches approached me pre-camp to tell me about him. I know that small schools have some PLAYERS who put up great numbers at the high school level. Oftentimes, when I see those small-school standouts at bigger camps, they tend to struggle against the better competition. Not Hunter. Right off the bat, Hunter displayed good mechanics, great throw power, and consistently good accuracy on basic hitch practice. Once the competition period commenced, Hunter's great performance continued. He didn't bat 1.000 on his throws, but whenever he got the ball out quickly, his accuracy was great. There's obvious talent here, and he could be a diamond in the rough and a very underrated college prospect. The one area Hunter needs to work on is his ability to read a defense, getting the ball out in time, and confidence throwing the ball into tighter coverage. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/alex_pallone/status/1791142251214545330 </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">QB | [player_tooltip player_id='1298657' first='Lawrence' last='Wells'] | Brighton | <a href="https://twitter.com/LawrenceWellsl1">@LawrenceWellsl1</a></h2>   <p>Lawrence took over the Brighton PM Camp. A transfer from AA Huron, Lawrence is Brighton's new QB1, and he shows a ton of promise as a dual threat. Lawrence has a quick throwing motion and very impressive accuracy deep downfield. The ball launches out of his hand, he's got great throw power, and was very decisive + confident with his passes. He was the MVP of the Brighton day, and I'm very interested to see what he does next fall. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">WR | [player_tooltip player_id='566878' first='Braylon' last='Burnside'] | IKE | <a href="https://twitter.com/BurnsideBray05">@BurnsideBray05</a></h2>   <p>College coaches don't typically evaluate the "white shirt" (Junior, Sophomore) prospects at these camps, so Braylon unfortunately didn't get the attention he deserved. His time will come, and if he comes next year and puts up the same performance, he'll turn heads. Braylon had some of the best route running of the week, opting for many short-intermediate out routes instead of the deep routes I saw most receivers run. Thanks to some decent timing by the QBs, Braylon was able to catch a lot of passes near the sideline, toetap, and earn some RAC. Bryalon has been on my radar for a little over a year now, and I'm as confident as ever he'll be a phenomenal prospect in one year's time. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">WR | [player_tooltip player_id='899622' first='Braden' last='Rabideau']<a href="https://prepredzone.com/player/braden-rabideau/"></a> | Lansing Catholic | <a href="https://twitter.com/braden_rabideau">@braden_rabideau</a></h2>   <p>I'm still waiting for Braden to get the attention he deserves. He had a phenomenal all-state regular season, followed by a super productive offseason thus far. Braden had the same explosive release, superior feet, and overall great route running. He made getting open look easy, and he's always done a great job at tracking the football and earning RAC. I have a very confident D2 evaluation of Braden. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">ATH | [player_tooltip player_id='601038' first='Kadale' last='Williams'] | Lumen Christi | <a href="https://twitter.com/Delli35345180">@Delli35345180</a></h2>   <p>I've been pounding the table for Kadale as a Division 1 prospect for quite some time. At Lumen Christi, I've watched him perform incredibly well in the playoffs time and time again. For a player his size, he has exceptional contact balance. He had an absolutely gigantic workload in the 2023 State Championship and showcased his vision, stamina, and grit. This week at the Jackson showcase, Kadale's route running and overall receiving ability impressed every single coach in attendance. The little details in his route running still need a bit of work, but his athleticism and hands were more than enough to impress. Just look at the Tweet below.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/alex_pallone/status/1790437721875382379 </div></figure>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">OL | Andre Johnson | GR Northview | (No Twitter)</h2>   <p>Andre was the best offensive tackle I watched, outside of a few linemen I already knew very well. Where footwork was a little issue, his hands, balance, and anchor were great. The defensive line group wasn't the best I've seen, but Andre still stopped some very strong, high-effort players. Andre has got to be a target for multiple colleges, and I'm excited to see him in the future. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">DB | [player_tooltip player_id='1298623' first='Trae' last='Woods'] | North Farmington | <a href="https://twitter.com/8issues_">@8issues_</a></h2>   <p>Out of the several hundred prospects I watched this week, I will remember Trae the most. I've never seen someone so consistently positive and vocal on the football field. From calling out coverages, encouraging others, and predicting what routes the receivers will run, Trae was impossible to miss. He also had a few PBUs and great plays himself, but I didn't see the ball get thrown his way too much. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">DB | Darryle Geter III | East Lansing | <a href="https://twitter.com/D_Geter12">@D_Geter1</a></h2>   <p>Darryle was the best all-around DB I watched this week. I didn't see him lose a rep. I saw him "give up" a catch or two, but in those instances, it was more of a great throw and catch by the QB/WR. I watched several times as Darryle locked up several great receivers, recovered from mistakes exceptionally fast, and displayed solid ball skills. GV and Davenport have already offered, so I don't feel I need to "sell" many programs on Geter. With a phenomenal 2024 season, he could get a late MAC offer. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">DB | Chris Murphy-Ware | East Kentwood | <a href="https://twitter.com/ware_murphyc">@ware_murphyc</a></h2>   <p>I know that Murphy-Ware is on a lot of college radars right now. He made a point to go up against some of the best receivers at the camp, and he did well against all of them. His DB fundamentals are solid. He has flexible hips, doesn't bite on double moves, and has phenomenal recovery if he does make a mistake. On top of all that, Chris does a good job at playing the ball and he sports a great vertical. I'd be shocked if he doesn't earn a GLIAC offer this offseason. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">TE/EDGE | [player_tooltip player_id='1290840' first='Tyler' last='Brinks'] | South Christian | <a href="https://twitter.com/tyler_brinks">@tyler_brinks</a></h2>   <p>Brinks is a very interesting addition to this list because I actually didn't love what he did at the TE position. He was solid, but was not a standout at that position. The thing is, several college coaches went crazy for his size and arm length. Tyler has ELITE measurements to develop into a dominant defense end/EDGE rusher. I mentioned Tyler a few weeks ago in my Hudl Discoveries series, and he confirmed my film evaluation. The upside is through the roof, but his current skill needs to improve. Even with marginal improvements, Tyler could see himself with a D1 offer. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">DE | [player_tooltip player_id='602430' first='Kade' last='Friesen'] | Rockford | <a href="https://twitter.com/Kade_Friesen1">@Kade_Friesen1</a></h2>   <p>Man, someone's got to offer Kade. He's a dominant EDGE rusher but, unfortunately, doesn't meet the height threshold for most schools. Still, I didn't see Kade lose a single rep at the Jenison showcase, and the only reps I've seen him lose were against a P4 tackle prospect. I've seen few D-Linemen explode off the ball like Kade does. He also has great hands and a plethora of very successful pass-rush moves. </p>   <p>When I was a Freshman in high school, there was a senior linebacker named Troy Hairston on the football team. He had zero offers coming out of high school, mainly because of his injury history and his 5'11" height. He ended up walking onto CMU, and after a few years of extremely hard work, he earned MAC Defensive player of the year honors. He went undrafted but earned an opportunity at the Texans minicamp. Now, he's been the starting Fullback for the Texans since 2022. </p>   <p>I'm not saying Kade is going to end up like Troy, but I think that height thresholds are very overblown at times. I understand that someone who's 6'5" is going to have a much higher ceiling on paper than someone who's 6'2", but the 6'2" height shouldn't deter anyone from further evaluating Kade. </p>

It was an amazing, busy, hectic week of MHSAA Evaluation camps. I cannot say enough good things about how every one of these camps were run. The MHSAA did a truly extraordinary job with these showcases, and I'm looking forward to attending every MHSAA eval camp as long as they run them. This article highlights the BEST 11 prospects I watched this week!