Rod Johnson
VirginiaPreps.com Senior Editor
VirginiaPreps.com and 7 Cities Sports have joined forces for the Best of the 757 camp to find out who is the best football athlete in the Tidewater area and with the field well over half full, the event is shaping up to be a barnburner with some of the very best players in the Eastern Region stepping up to compete for the title.
Heading the field is University of Virginia commit Ross Burbank who may be the feature player in a very strong group of in-the-trenches prospects.? The 6-foot-4, 280-pounder will certainly be challenged by some other top offensive linemen including three from the Beach District's Ocean Lakes High School as Josh Mann (6-foot-2, 276), Chaz Lowery (6-foot-5, 254) andJohn Schraft (6-foot-2, 265) have signed up to participate.
As if that were not enough size in the o-line pit, fellow Virginia Beach prospects Greg Maloid (6-foot-0, 247) and Ben Hux (6-foot-1, 230) will join the Dolphins trio as will standouts Troy Butler (6-foot-2, 280) from Hickory High School and Mark Warack (6-foot-3, 245) of Grassfield High School who will represent the Chesapeake area.
From the Peninsula District, be on the lookout for Hampton High School's Trei Banks (6-foot-2, 317) who will carry the offensive line flag for perhaps the state's most historic and honored league while 6-foot-4, 299-pound Justin Daniels from Windsor High School, who has earned DI looks, will be looking to show how small school big men can compete with the elite of the Tidewater region.
That group will be tested by a pair of Ocean Lakes defensive linemen in Anthony Joffrion (5-foot-11, 267) and Demetri McGill (6-foot-0, 295) who each walked away with MVP awards at a National Underclassmen Combine (NUC) held last month at Bethel High School.
The skill positions won't be lackingfor talent either as quarterback Brandte McIntyre from Bishop Sullivan, another NUC MVP, and Grafton High School's Joe Cibrin have committed to the event where they will work with a talented group of running backs including D'Wayne Windley from Grassfield andJordan Broadnax from Landstown.
If there were an early favorite to walk away with the Best of the 757 crown, it may be Oscar Smith'sJ.C. Coleman who walked away with three awards, including the Overall MVP Award, at the Bethel NUC.
One group facing some problems may be the wide receivers as Ocean Lakes' Reggie Owens, who holds a scholarship offer from Duke, will attend that event and headline a group that includes Landstown's Ron Henderson and Western Branch's Travis Hawkins.