The weekend before July 4 is a big one on the football recruiting calendar, as The Opening Finals take place in Beaverton, Ore. (home of Nike).
For the last two offseasons, that’s meant something to the Syracuse Orange football program as well, thankfully. In June 2016, four-star quarterback Tommy DeVito attended and wound up a standout at the event (after an impressive Elite 11 showing as well). This time around, it’s four-star center Tyrone Sampson Jr. who’s representing the Orange up in Oregon.
Sampson will compete on Team Vapor Speed, along with numerous other top prospects from around the country (many of whom are committed to schools, but plenty aren’t).
Wondering what The Opening Finals actually entail? SB Nation’s Richard Johnson has a full rundown of the event, but the important stuff for Orange fans:
#TheOpening Finals Roster
— The Opening (@TheOpening) June 16, 2017
Team: Vapor Speed pic.twitter.com/40DNzmIEqL
Television?
The Opening Finals won’t be televised or streamed this year, but you’ll see plenty of coverage of it around the internet. SB Nation’s Bud Elliott will be on-site, so follow him for updates there. Additionally, places like ESPNU will also have plenty of details to share.
Lineman Challenge
Linemen (offensive and defensive) will participate in a Lineman Challenge over the weekend, going 1-on-1 with the best players from the opposite side of the ball. This provides the best assessment for all of these athletes, since the level of competition in that challenge will likely be greater than what they currently face at the high school level.
The Lineman Challenge begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 1, and finals for that event are held on Monday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.
Sampson is one of 20 offensive linemen present for the event, and one of 11 four-stars in the position group. Just four of the O-line participants are five-stars. The rest are three stars and lower.
7-on-7
Pool play for the five teams begins at 1 p.m. on Sunday, July 2, running into the evening. Then the “playoff” round starts at 10 p.m. on Sunday. The championship will be held on Monday, July 3 at 12:30 p.m. These are largely a showcase for the skill position players, which is why the linemen have their own event.
Expectations for Sampson?
Tough to say, considering his evaluations will largely be relegated to the 1-on-1 challenge portion. But at 6-foo-3 and 295 pounds, he’s one of the biggest centers in the entire class of 2018. And coming from Michigan, which does produce a sizeable amount of FBS talent, he’s been tested at least a few times before The Opening Finals.
Linemen rarely generate a ton of buzz at these sorts of things, but if Sampson puts in some strong work against some of the nation’s best D-linemen, it could be a huge boon to the talk about this Orange recruiting class. DeVito’s performance worked similarly last year, so we’ll hope for more of the same this summer as Sampson represents Syracuse on this major stage.