U.S. Army All-American Bowl still king of postseason football events

Video: MaxPreps 2017 All-American show
MaxPreps football editor Zack Poff and Myckena Guerrero break down the best of the best.

The early signing period took a little luster away, but there's no question that the biggest high school football postseason show is Saturday at San Antonio's Alamodome, site of the 18th U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Akin to basketball's McDonald's All-American Game, the Army All-American Bowl pits most of the top senior talent in the country, though it is competing with the Under Armour All-American Game which is played two days earlier in Orlando, Fla.

Nevertheless, according to 247Sports composite rankings, seven of the top 10, 10 of the top 15 and 13 of the top 20 players in the country will converge in Texas, including No. 1 recruit Trevor Lawrence, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound quarterback from Cartersville (Ga.)



In the previous 17 games, upwards of 20 3-, 4- and 5-star standouts would announce their college commitments live during the game.

But with the new early signing period Dec. 20-22, only a handful will announce their college intentions on NBC starting at noon (CT). The big three are:

• Amon-Ra St. Brown, of national champion Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.). The 6-foot, 190-pound wide receiver is a first-team MaxPreps All-American, a 5-star standout ranked the 12th top overall recruit in the country. He's expected to announce to USC, where he'd join former teammate and recently re-classified quarterback JT Daniels . Daniels, a recent addition to the game because he just became eligible (he was a junior all season), was selected Tuesday as the MaxPreps 2017 National Player of the Year.

* Brendan Radley-Hiles, a 4-star corner from national power IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) and First Team All-American is down to four it looks like - Oklahoma, UCLA, Alabama, and Clemson.

• Rondale Moore, a 4-star receiver from Kentucky power Trinity (Louisville, Ky.). The speedy Moore (5-9, 175) appears locked into Purdue, but Texas and Louisville are also strong considerations.

• Chris Murray, a 4-star offensive lineman also from Mater Dei. The 6-3, 300-pounder was a second-team MaxPreps All-American selection. He's picking between Pac-12 schools UCLA or Stanford.



It's not clear where cornerback Patrick Surtain II is headed, or if he will announce on Saturday. The nation's No. 4 recruit overall from American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.) appears to be going to LSU, but Alabama is making a hard charge.

The rosters are large — 53 for the East and 56 on the West — and break down by states represented this way.

The East (53): Florida 13, Georgia 11, North Carolina 6, South Carolina 5, Ohio 4, Tennessee 3, New Jersey 2, Pennsylvania 2, Alabama 1, Virginia 1, Connecticut 1, Kentucky 1, New York 1, Michigan 1, Maryland 1.

The West (56): California 13, Texas 12, Oregon 4, Missouri 3, Florida 3, Oklahoma 3, Utah 2, Louisiana 2, Indiana 2, Nevada 2, Michigan 2, Idaho 2, Tennessee 1, Washington 1, Illinois 1, Alabama 1, Iowa 1, Colorado 1.