Final word ahead Under Armour All-American Game announcements

ORLANDO – The Under Armour All-American Game is known for its memorable mid-game college declarations.

The event didn’t take place in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is back in full force in 2022, with it comes gameday announcements.

Many of the future college stars taking part in the game have signed as part of the early signing period. There’s still plenty of meat on the bone of intrigue for Sunday’s game.

Five-star Plus+ linebacker Cypress (Texas) Cy Park Harold Perkins plans to announce his college decision at some point in Sunday’s game.

The No. 3 overall prospect in the On3 Consensus rankings for the class of 2022 will choose between LSU, Texas A&M and Texas during the ESPN broadcast. Perkins has not signed with the program that he is choosing on Sunday.

Earlier this week the Cy Park star stated that making the announcement at one of the major All-American games.

That’s a dream, that’s why I’m going to go ahead and do it here,” Perkins said.

Perkins has played things close to his vest throughout the week of practices. His last two visits of the football season were LSU on Nov. 27. He was in College Station visiting the Aggies on Dec. 11.

Perkins has been surrounded by future Aggies all week in Orlando. There are 15 Texas A&M signees playing in the Under Armour All-American Game this week.

The future Aggies have made their pitches, but Perkins said in an interview earlier this week that it’s not going to impact his decision much.

“They’re trying to recruit me hard, that doesn’t phase me and my decision though,” Perkins said.

Some of the Aggie contingency on hand has simply laid back with hopes that the vibrations given off by the group would be enough to land Perkins.

“People think that we pressure people into coming to A&M, but we actually don’t pressure or recruit,” On3 Five-Star Plus+ wide receiver Evan Stewart said. “Bobby (Taylor) does recruit and so does Donovan (Green), but other than that. The rest of us are just the people that invite you in and you see what we have going and if you’re vibing with it then usually they are. A bunch of guys get with us and they’re like ‘I can hang with you all.”

Perkins’ recruitment won’t end in Orlando. He confirmed on Wednesday that he will take visits to Florida and Miami in the coming months.

Omari Abor has a long list of options

The No. 64 overall prospect in the On3 Consensus rankings for the class of 2022 Duncanville (Texas) Omari Abor will also be making his college intentions public on Sunday.

Abor spoke with On3 Director of Recruiting Chad Simmons and confirmed that hats for Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, Texas, Texas A&M, and Florida on the table when he makes his announcement on Sunday.

Abor has not signed yet and will not do so until the February signing period. He plans on visiting a few schools following his commitment. Abor has two official visits remaining and plans to use them both.

Jovantae Barnes rounds out the star-studded day of announcements

Las Vegas (Nev.) Desert Pines running back Jovantae Barnes will choose between Florida State, Oklahoma and USC according to an interview with Simmons.

Barnes took an official visit to USC a week prior to the early signing period. He had planned to take a trip to visit Miami but reconsidered.

Florida State and Oklahoma both got him on campus on back-to-back weekends in November.

Barnes raved about all three schools’ final pitches during his interview with Simmons.

“I like all three schools a lot. It was not easy. USC had a coaching change. Oklahoma had a coaching change. I am from Florida, and Florida State is trying to rebuild the program.

“It was a lot to think about. I like Lincoln Riley a lot, I am close to DeMarco Murray (Oklahoma running backs coach), and I love Mike Norvell.

“I had to think about all of this until the end, but I have made my decision.”