Arizona QB commit Robert McDaniel lands Elite 11 Finals invite
Hughson (Calif.) three-star quarterback Robert McDaniel has already made moves in his recruitment, as the one-time Cal commit backed off his pledge to the Bears in May and promptly pledged to Arizona later that month.
Ahead of his senior season, McDaniel will now have a chance to showcase his skills amongst the best of the best in the 2025 cycle this week. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder landed an invitation to the Elite 11 Finals on Monday evening, replacing Tennessee five-star quarterback commit George MacIntyre, who is not participating in Los Angeles due to injury.
There are few higher honors for high school quarterbacks than being invited to the Elite 11 Finals. The event, which will celebrate its 25th year in 2024, brings together the country’s elite signal-callers for three days of competition and training in Los Angeles.
Elite 11 alumni include Carson Palmer, Andrew Luck, Matthew Stafford, Tim Tebow, and more recently Trevor Lawrence, C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young and more. Last year’s Elite 11 Finals featured more than a dozen of the top 20 quarterbacks in the final On3 Industry Rankings, including each of the top five players at the position.
McDaniel now joins 19 other invitees who will compete from June 18-20: USC commit Julian Lewis, Ohio State pledge Tavien St. Clair, Notre Dame commit Deuce Knight, Texas A&M commit Husan Longstreet, Texas commit K.J. Lacey, SMU commit Keelon Russell, Oklahoma commit Kevin Sperry, Florida State pledge Tramell Jones, North Carolina commit Bryce Baker, Missouri commit Matt Zollers, Georgia pledge Ryan Montgomery, TCU commit Ty Hawkins, Nebraska commit TJ Lateef, uncommitted four-star Malik Washington, Iowa State commit Alex Manske, Mississippi State pledge KaMario Taylor, Miami pledge Luke Nickel and uncommitted three-star Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele.
McDaniel is the No. 674 overall prospect and No. 42 QB in the 2025 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He’s also the No. 58 player in California.
Across two seasons as a starter at Hughson High, McDaniel has played in 29 games, throwing for over 4,700 yards and 58 touchdowns. As a junior last season, he completed 181 passes for 2,839 yards, hurling 33 TDs and just four interceptions. He also ran for 180 yards and three scores.