Say what you will about high school camps that involve players running around in shorts and t-shirts; Nike's The Opening is without question the nation's most elite camp event for soon-to-be seniors as well as a handful of underclassmen. It's one thing to run circles around the run-of-the-mill campers at the regional events, but to do it on the big stage at Nike's campus in Beaverton is something that definitely gets you noticed.
Yesterday, Buckeye pledge Antjuan Simmons earned his invite to Beaverton while a number of targets – Donovan Peoples-Jones, Matt Dotson, and Jamyest Williams – did the same. J.K. Dobbins, Haskell Garrett, Isaiah Pryor, and Marcus Williamson already have punched their tickets to the event. Considering their performances yesterday, it would be a pretty big shock if Josh Myers and/or Jake Moretti don't end up with an invite.
The Opening finals will take place from July 5th through July 10th and a number of other top targets are also expected. Tyjon Lindsey, Trevon Grimes, and Jeffrey Okudah will all be making the trip, meaning the event will have a major Buckeye presence – something we should be used to by now.
The 2012 edition of The Opening was the second year the event was put on, and more importantly for Buckeye fans, the first year with Meyer at the helm. At the time, six Buckeye commits found themselves on Nike's campus in Oregon. Ezekiel Elliott, Marcus Baugh, Jalin Marshall, Eli Apple, Cam Burrows, and Jayme Thompson all were on hand for the festivities.
Lots of familiar faces were on hand in 2012.
Elliott was still flying under the radar a bit at the time, but the recruiting outlets were definitely paying attention that week as he recorded a 4.42 in the forty-yard dash and impressed many with his big-play ability. He would later see a ranking bump from virtually all of the recruiting services. Apple and Marshall struggled a bit in the forty, recording times of 4.66 and 4.63 respectively.
One of the bigger stories at the event was linebacker Mike Mitchell – who was uncommitted at the time – and his record-setting SPARQ score of 154.47. Mitchell would go on to commit to the Buckeyes at the Under Armour All-American Game before ultimately leaving the program and heading to Texas Tech.
The nation's top-ranked player – and Michigan lock – Da'Shawn Hand was in attendance as was tailback Derrick Green. The Buckeyes took some flak when they elected to pursue Elliott instead of Green, the nation's top-ranked back.
Those were some fun times.
The 2013 Opening saw a whopping nine Buckeye commits in attendance, and that doesn't even count Raekwon McMillan, Demetrius Knox, and Curtis Samuel, who were uncommitted back in July of 2013. Names like Terry McLaurin, Stephen Collier, Kyle Trout, Dylan Thompson, Damon Webb, Jalyn Holmes, and Parris Campbell all earned invites as did a pair of in-state linebacker commits in Kyle Berger and Dante Booker.
With so many Buckeyes in attendance, they were able to put their recruiting caps on for the week, focusing primarily on the aforementioned McMillan, Knox, and Samuel.
McMillan would go on to pledge to the Buckeyes in December of 2013.
The future Buckeyes in attendance all raved about the event. Kyle Berger noted that seeing some of the other players was only going to motivate him to improve his own game: "Some of the athletes out there are just ridiculous, it's an elite group. Some of the kids were ridiculously big and muscular, I was actually surprised by that. It'll help me in the long run because I'll be working my butt off to get bigger and better. I've always developed the mental side of the game, and this event will help with that, too."
Knox discussed some of the other, finer things associated with the event.
"We had as much food as we wanted, got to play NCAA 14 and were given over $1000 worth of Nike gear. What more could you want?"
Aside from the intense melancholy that overcomes me when thinking about EASports' former football series, it's fairly obvious that the kids really get into these events – for both the competition and the perks that are involved.
In July of 2014, three Buckeye commits graced the Nike headquarters with their presence as Justin Hilliard, Jashon Cornell, and Tyler Greene all made the trip, though Green would end up signing with the Hoosiers. With a relatively low number of Buckeyes in attendance, the event was more about recruiting some of the staff's top targets, including players like Damien Harris, Josh Sweat, Matthew Burrell, Neville Gallimore, and Christian Kirk.
Future buckeyes @Damien_D1Harris @JHilliard47 @Path2Greatwork #WeDemBoyz #Elite15 pic.twitter.com/hWOY8flbao
— Jashon Cornell (@JayRock_9) July 8, 2014
Things worked out in the Buckeyes' favor for Burrell as the nation's seventh-ranked guard made his commitment in November. Sweat would go on to sign with the Noles, Gallimore with the Sooners, and both Harris and Kirk would end up in SEC territory.
Mike Weber, Torrance Gibson, and K.J. Hill were also a part of the 2014 event.
In the latest edition of The Opening, the Buckeyes sent five commits to Oregon. However, one of them – tailback Kareem Walker – ultimately ended up signing with Jim Harbaugh's Wolverines. Austin Mack, Demario McCall, Jake Hausmann, and Jonathon Cooper all represented the Buckeyes well against the best of the best.
All five Buckeye commits saw themselves on Team Lunarbeast. The squad struggled through day one, losing all four of their 7-on-7 matches. However, they were able to rebound and actually ended up taking home the 7-on-7 championship.
Buckeye targets were yet again all over the place in Beaverton. Wideouts Binjimen Victor and Donnie Corely were both on hand as were defensive tackle Antwuan Jackson and defensive back Jordan Fuller. Dwayne Haskins, who had committed to Maryland in May of 2015, was practically an afterthought at the time as the Buckeyes recruiting efforts were focused primarily on Jarrett Guarantano. Guarantano would commit to Tennessee in August and we all know the story on Haskins. Funny how these things work out, eh?
So, again, looking ahead to this coming July, Buckeye commits should be at the forefront of the event. With five commits already heading to Oregon and invites for Myers and Moretti (and others) potentially looming, Nike's most prestigious scouting/competition camp should yet again have a very Scarlet and Gray flavor.
