Alabama 5-star athlete commit Jaylen Mbakwe and Auburn 5-star wide receiver commit Perry Thompson headline the Alabama roster for this year’s Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic.
The Alabama High School Athletic Directors and Coaches Association announced the roster on Saturday morning. The game will be played Dec. 16 at H.H. Roberts Stadium on the campus of Southern Mississippi.
Clay-Chalkville’s Mbakwe and Foley’s Thompson are two of 26 Alabama seniors on the roster who already have committed to play college football.
Other Alabama commits on the roster include Gadsden City’s Dre Kirkpatrick Jr., Ramsay’s Q.B. Reese, Parker’s Jeremiah Beaman, Central-Phenix City’s Isaia Faga and Brookwood’s William Sanders. Auburn commits joining Thompson are Anniston’s Jayden Lewis, Pike Road’s Malik Blocton, Andalusia’s J’Marion Burnette and Baker’s Bryce Cain.
Players were selected by the AHSADCA All-Star selection committee at a meeting last week from nominations submitted by member schools.
Enterprise’s Ben Blackmon will coach the Alabama All-Stars.
“As always, we thank the committee for their time and dedication in picking this outstanding group of student-athletes,” said Brandon Dean, director of the AHSADCA. “We look forward to watching these student-athletes compete against Mississippi in December. Along with coach Blackmon and his staff, we know they all will put on a great representation for our state and their respective schools and communities. We thank our members schools and or coaches for their continued support of this annual matchup.”
The quarterbacks selected for the team are South Alabama commit Jared Hollins of Mary G. Montgomery and uncommitted Opelika QB Roman Gagliano.
Other top committed players on the roster include Spanish Fort EDGE Cole McConathy (Louisville), Theodore LB Bobby Pruitt (Miami), Clay-Chalkville OL JacQwan McRoy (Oregon), Tuscaloosa County RB Kevin Riley (Miami) and Central-Phenix City WR Cam Coleman (Texas A&M).
Currently uncommitted players on the team include Clay-Chalkville WR Mario Craver, Hoover LB Bradley Shaw and Gagliano. Fourteen players on the roster have yet to commit. Only seniors are eligible for the game.
“I think we’ve got a good team,” Blackmon told AL.com. “I think we’ve got some really dynamic players that I am excited to coach. We are going to do our best to go out and represent the state of Alabama well. Just making sure all these guys play hard for our state is the big goal, and I know they will.”
The committee has certain guidelines in choosing the 40-man roster. Only two teams can have as many as three players on the roster. This year, those two teams are four-time reigning 7A champ Thompson and Class 6A No. 2 Clay-Chalkville. Also, at least one player must be chosen from each of the eight districts and all seven classifications must be represented.
“It’s really a tough task,” Blackmon said. “There are definitely more than 40 great players in this state. It makes the job very difficult. There are a lot of kids who probably could have or should have been in this game, but I think the committee did the best job they could in getting the top players in the state. I’m certainly excited about the challenge.”
Blackmon’s staff includes Saraland’s Jeff Kelly, Andalusia’s Trent Taylor, Ramsay’s Ronnie Jackson, Foley’s Deric Scott, Opelika’s Erik Speakman, Bibb County’s Matt Geohagan and Benjamin Russell’s Smitty Grider. The scout coach is Justin Turner of Enterprise.
Alabama beat Mississippi last December at Mobile’s Hancock Whitney Stadium on the campus of the University of South Alabama 14-10. The series started in 1988 with Alabama winning three overtimes 24-21. The 36th game improved Alabama’s record to 25-11 overall.
ALABAMA ALL-STAR ROSTER
Name, high school, height, weight, position, head coach
Kamore Harris, BB Comer High School, 6-1, 235, Ath, Adam Fossett
Jayden Lewis, Anniston High School, 6-0, 176, DB, Rico Jackson
Jaylen Mbakwe, Clay-Chalkville High School, 6-1, 175, DB, Drew Gilmer
Dre Kirkpatrick, Gadsden City High School, 6-0, 195, DB, Ali Smith
Travaris Banks, Hillcrest High School, Tuscaloosa, 6-2, 195, DB, James Mitchell
Xavier Johnson, Muscle Shoals High School, 5-10, 175, DB, Scott Basden
Kaleb Harris, Thompson High School, 6-0, 195, DB, Mark Freeman
Jamari Payne, Loachapoka High School, 6-3, 250, DE/LB, Reco Newton
Quinton Reese, Ramsay IB High School, 6-0, 215, DE/LB, Ronnie Jackson
Jamison Curtis, Saraland High School, 6-1, 210, DE/LB, Jeff Kelly
Cole McConathy, Spanish Fort High School, 6-5, 235, DE/LB, Chase Smith
Cameron Pruitt, Theodore High School, 6-3, 195, DE/LB, Steve Mask
Tyler Hicks, Thompson High School, 6-0, 210, DE/LB, Mark Freeman
Bradley Shaw, Hoover High School, 6-1, 225, DE/LB, Wade Waldrop
Jeremiah Beaman, A.H. Parker High School, 6-4, 265, DL, Frank Warren
Isaia Faga, Central, Phenix City, 6-2, 285, DL, Patrick Nix
Fred Vili, Enterprise High School, 6-1, 250, DL, Ben Blackmon
Jaylen Brown, James Clemens High School, 6-6, 240, DL, Chad McGehee
Malik Blocton, Pike Road High School, 6-4, 275, DL, Granger Shook
Kevin Norwood, Theodore High School, 6-2, 305, DL, Steve Mask
Donovan Price, Hewitt-Trussville High School, 6-3, 225, HB, Josh Floyd
Towns McGough, Auburn High School, 6-0, 192, K/P, Keith Etheredge
Carson Wheeler, Brooks High School, 6-3, 285, OL, Timothy Bowens
William Sanders, Brookwood High School, 6-4, 295, OL, Mike Bramblett
JacQwan McRoy, Clay-Chalkville High School, 6-8, 370, OL, Drew Gilmer
Reese Baker, Madison Academy, 6-5, 285, OL, Bob Godsey
Daylin Martin, Saraland High School, 6-1, 290, OL, Jeff Kelly
Asher Hale, St. Paul’s, 6-6, 305, OL, Ham Barnett
Clark Barker, Wetumpka High School, 6-3, 285, OL, Bear Woods
Jared Hollins, Mary G. Montgomery High School, 6-4, 190, QB, Zach Golson
Roman Gagliano, Opelika High School, 6-3, 210, QB, Erik Speakman
J’Marion Burnette, Andalusia High School, 6-1, 200, RB, Trent Taylor
Arrington Green, Thompson High School, 5-11, 201, RB, Mark Freeman
Kevin Riley, Tuscaloosa County High School, 6-1, 200, RB, Adam Winegarden
Watts Alexander, Mountain Brook High School, 6- 4, 265, TE, Chris Yeager
Bryce Cain, Baker High School, 5-10, 140, WR, Steve Normand
Cameron Coleman, Central, Phenix City, 6-3, 190, WR, Patrick Nix
Jywon Boyd, Charles Henderson High School, 5-11, 185, WR, Quinn Hambrite
Mario Craver, Clay-Chalkville High School, 5-10, 160, WR, Drew Gilmer
Perry Thompson, Foley High School, 6-3, 215, WR, Deric Scott