The annual North Central College Camps take place today Monday June 2 thru June 4 Wednesday and this year also includes a special teams portion on June 3rd from 1-3PM....otherwise the camps start at 330PM check in and registration starts and the camp goes from 5-8PM Expect a ton of kids and also a ton of college coaches from all levels. Here are my Top 5 storylines to watch this week in downtown Naperville.
1. How many actual offers will be available and extended to players at the camps? It's been a question I've had ever since the start of the transfer portal and this remains one of the most important questions facing every camp now when it comes to high school level talent. No question that the sheer amount of offers available now are less and less for high school prospects and the last years camp no question was the first year I noticed how much different coaches approached the camps and offers. Keep an eye on both the Power 4 schools in attendance along with the FCS schools. The Power 4 schools I feel will be looking to see/cherry pick the underclassmen kids (2027/2028) and maybe look at a few potential kids in 2026....and will the FCS schools extend any offers to any 2026 names.....or are they also moved on already with 2026's and looking at say 2027s already?
2. How will the addition of shells (helmets/shoulder pads/mouthpiece) this year change/improve the overall camps? This is the first year that the NCC camps will require prospects to work out in shells (helmet/shoulder pads/mouthpiece) at all positions and my take? HURRAY! No question allowing shells will bring a much more real football feel to the camp and especially the linemen will benefit the most here. You can just see so much more when kids are in shells versus no shells in my opinion. Intensity always seems to rise whenever kids go in shells.
3. Which unknown names will emerge? Again the best part of these camps is seeing/finding an unknown name who just steps up and stands out and every year in every session you'll see/find at least a handful of names who see their stock take off after a strong performance. I'm putting my money on the underclassmen groups who continue to generate a ton of really higher leverl kids already. The in-state 2027 and 2028 classes already have several high level names...and I'm expecting more to emerge this week.
4. Could this year's NCC camps draw the most amount of kids ever? It sure seems like we are seeing more and more kids mentioning the NCC camps and this camp has really developed into a must go to events. The first two sessions are sold out and the key I feel will be the turnout for the last camp on Wednesday. If the Wednesday camp draws strong numbers....this could be a huge week for NCC football and these camps.
5. Will current kids with early scholarship offers come out to camp? It's been something that has continued to be an issue over the last several years with all camps. Kids get early offers then just stop camping....which in some cases I fully understand but in many other cases.....kids still need to compete and still need to get work.
Also the Power 4 schools still rely heavily on it's own on campus camps where they can really work out it's top prospects in a more intimate camp and work those kids harder. I get the feeling the FCS schools in particular will be pointing kids they like to go back and camp at those schools later this month and also in July....so that the FCS schools won't extend as many early offers and make kids "earn them" in it's own camps.
I'll have full coverage here all this week including top performers, various video and photos all week from North Central College camps.
1. How many actual offers will be available and extended to players at the camps? It's been a question I've had ever since the start of the transfer portal and this remains one of the most important questions facing every camp now when it comes to high school level talent. No question that the sheer amount of offers available now are less and less for high school prospects and the last years camp no question was the first year I noticed how much different coaches approached the camps and offers. Keep an eye on both the Power 4 schools in attendance along with the FCS schools. The Power 4 schools I feel will be looking to see/cherry pick the underclassmen kids (2027/2028) and maybe look at a few potential kids in 2026....and will the FCS schools extend any offers to any 2026 names.....or are they also moved on already with 2026's and looking at say 2027s already?
2. How will the addition of shells (helmets/shoulder pads/mouthpiece) this year change/improve the overall camps? This is the first year that the NCC camps will require prospects to work out in shells (helmet/shoulder pads/mouthpiece) at all positions and my take? HURRAY! No question allowing shells will bring a much more real football feel to the camp and especially the linemen will benefit the most here. You can just see so much more when kids are in shells versus no shells in my opinion. Intensity always seems to rise whenever kids go in shells.
3. Which unknown names will emerge? Again the best part of these camps is seeing/finding an unknown name who just steps up and stands out and every year in every session you'll see/find at least a handful of names who see their stock take off after a strong performance. I'm putting my money on the underclassmen groups who continue to generate a ton of really higher leverl kids already. The in-state 2027 and 2028 classes already have several high level names...and I'm expecting more to emerge this week.
4. Could this year's NCC camps draw the most amount of kids ever? It sure seems like we are seeing more and more kids mentioning the NCC camps and this camp has really developed into a must go to events. The first two sessions are sold out and the key I feel will be the turnout for the last camp on Wednesday. If the Wednesday camp draws strong numbers....this could be a huge week for NCC football and these camps.
5. Will current kids with early scholarship offers come out to camp? It's been something that has continued to be an issue over the last several years with all camps. Kids get early offers then just stop camping....which in some cases I fully understand but in many other cases.....kids still need to compete and still need to get work.
Also the Power 4 schools still rely heavily on it's own on campus camps where they can really work out it's top prospects in a more intimate camp and work those kids harder. I get the feeling the FCS schools in particular will be pointing kids they like to go back and camp at those schools later this month and also in July....so that the FCS schools won't extend as many early offers and make kids "earn them" in it's own camps.
I'll have full coverage here all this week including top performers, various video and photos all week from North Central College camps.
