Seven of SI's Top 99 Seniors Are Headed to Pac-12 Schools
It's easy to see why Alabama and Ohio State are always among the nation's top football teams when you look at the Preseason SI99 -- the 99 top high school seniors who rank as the frontrunners for the Sports Illustrated All-American first team.
It's also easy to see why the Pac-12 seems to be lagging behind the other four Power 5 conferences. While 10 of the SI99 members have committed to Ohio State and eight have committed to Alabama, only seven have committed to all the Pac-12 schools combined.
None has committed to Cal, whose 2021 recruiting class is ranked as the 21st-best in the country by both 247Sports and ESPN.com, but includes none of these 99 elite players.
As far as the Pac-12 is concerned, two of the SI99 have committed to Oregon, two to USC, two to Washington and one to Arizona State.
Here are the seven SI99 players who have committed to Pac-12 schools, starting with their overall ranking and ending with the school to which they committed:
No. 29. -- QB Ty Thompson, Gilbert, Ariz. (Mesquite) -- Oregon
No. 38 -- QB Sam Huard, Burien, Wash. (Kennedy Catholic) -- Washington
No. 50 -- LB Julien Simon, Tacoma, Wash. (Lincoln) -- USC
No. 59 -- WR Troy Franklin, Atherton, Calif. (Menlo) -- Oregon
No. 65 -- SLOT Jabez Tinae, Burien, Wash. (Kennedy Catholic) -- Washington
No.81 -- QB Miller Moss, Santa Ana, Calif. (Mater Dei) -- USC
No. 85 -- CB Isaiah Johnson, Bluefield, W.Va. -- Arizona State
Nine of the SI99 players are from California, including two from the Bay Area -- wide receiver Troy Franklin of Atherton and tight end Brock Bowers of Napa. Cal has done well in getting local talent to commit to the Golden Bears, with four Bay Area players committing to Cal for 2021. However, Franklin is headed to Oregon, and Bowers chose Georgia.
Only Florida (16) and Texas (14) had more players on this list than the state of California.
Here are the top players in the SI99 list:
No. 1 -- QB Caleb Williams, Washington, D.C. (Gonzaga) -- Oklahoma.
No. 2 -- DE J.T. Tuimoloau, Sammamish, Wash. (Eastside Catholic) -- undecided.
No. 3 -- DE Jack Sawyer, Pickerington, Ohio (Pickerington North) -- Ohio State.
No. 4 -- IDL Korey Foreman, Corona, Calif. (Centennial) -- undecided.
No. 5 -- OT Tommy Brockermeyer, Fort Worth, Texas (All Saints Episcopal) -- Alabama.
No. 6 -- LB Smael Mondon, Dallas, Ga. (Paulding County) -- undecided.
No. 7 -- DE Demeioun Robinson, Gaithersburg, Md. (Quince Orchard) -- Maryland.
No. 8 -- RB TreVeyon Henderson, Hopewell, Va. -- Ohio State.
No. 9 -- RB Camar Wheaton, Garland, Texas (Lakeview Centennial) -- undecided.
No. 10 -- WR Emeka Egbuka, Steilacoom, Wash. -- undecided.
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