Ashton Porter stars at Underclassman Report Power Academy
Arlington, Texas – On3 Consensus 4-star Ashton Porter took home top honors Saturday at the Underclassman Power Academy.
The Power Academy run by the Underclassman Report is the first of its kind. The event was invite only with 40 defensive line and 40 offensive line prospects in the classes of 2023, 2024 and 2025.
The 6-foot-3, 236-pound EDGE prospect impressed throughout the day in drills, a classroom question and answer session with NFL defensive lineman Damontre Moore and in on-on-one’s to close out the day.
Porter’s standout day concluded with an invite to the 2023 Under Armour All-America Game to be played the first week of January, 2023 in Orlando.
Renowned defensive line instructor Nathan O’Neal has seen continued growth in Porter. O’Neal has worked with Porter on a number of occasions at Under Armour and Elite Underclassman events.
“I like his versatility of being able to line up on the edge, as well as DT.” O’Neal told On3 following the event. “He has some twitch to him combined with good explosion, power, and toughness in his rush. He showed improvement in his bend today. And he turns corners well. This was my fourth time working with him, and he gets better every time.”
Porter’s recruitment heating up
Ashton Porter currently sports 25 offers, and that list is expected to expand this spring during the evaluation period. Not only is Porter a 4-star talent on the field, but he’s even more impressive when college coaches meet and interact with the Houston area prospect. That will lead to more offers in the coming weeks and months.
“Arizona, Texas are coming at me the hardest,” Porter told On3. “Arkansas too. I’ve been talking to Oregon a lot lately. LSU is talking to me a bit too.”
Along with Oregon and LSU, Georgia is another program that is showing interest in recent weeks.
While Texas, Arkansas and Baylor are in sold positions headed into the spring, the official visit process will be key barring a change of timeline.
“I will probably take my official visits in the summer. I want to take my visits before I make a decision.”
The next scheduled visit for Porter is Grambling State April 2.
Terrance Green turned heads Saturday
On3 4-star defensive lineman Terrance Green is one of the more intriguing prospects in Texas in the 2023 cycle. He has gone from around 220 pounds as a sophomore to 267 pounds at check in Saturday. Combine that quickly developing frame with an 83-inch wingspan and 10.5-inch hands with high-end movement skills, and Green is a fast riser with college coaches.
The big question surrounding Green’s recruitment is what side of the ball will he settle on at the next level. Oklahoma State and TCU have offered as an offensive tackle. Baylor and Texas Tech will give him a shot at defensive tackle first. Programs such as Texas, Texas A&M and Utah are beginning to show increased interest.
Nathan O’Neal had the opportunity to work with Green for the first time Saturday, and walked away impressed.
“Man, he really impressed me when we got into one on one’s. Was shocked at his get off. He had good hip level in the run game stuff. He’s a bit stiff, but in the one on one’s he looked really good. He’s got hand movement. We saw a really nice vertical rush with no wasted movement. Green really surprised me.”
Recruiting news and notes from Power Academy
On3 Consensus 4-star EDGE Enow Etta drew praise from the defensive line staff at the event with a relentless effort level. The 6-foot-4, 240-pounder has Michigan very high on his list on the recruiting front. The Wolverines, Michigan State and Stanford are in line to receive official visits. A trip to Stanford March 4 and California March 5 is on the schedule. One source told On3 that Etta favors Michigan and is a big fan of Jim Harbaugh, and the parents may prefer Stanford.
2024 EDGE Zion Taylor entered the event with 13 offers, including nine Power 5’s. The near 6-foot-2, and 210-pounder made a junior day visit to Arkansas January 29, and will make a visit to LSU march 5. Taylor impressed Saturday with explosive initial movement skills, quick hands and reactive feet and an understanding of his leverage advantage.
Texas A&M commitment Colton Thomasson continues to make an extremely impressive body transformation at a young age. The near 6-foot-8 offensive lineman once tipped the scales at 400 pounds. Saturday, he weighed in at around 330. The weight loss of 70 pounds in the last year or so has resulted in quicker initial movement skills, and much improved reactive quickness in pass pro. Thomasson is one-hundred percent in his commitment to the Aggies with several schools being told no chance in recent weeks.
On3 Consensus 3-star EDGE Trey Wilson put together a strong day Saturday. To the point of finishing second to Porter for the Camp Under Armour All-America Game invite. Wilson made junior day visits to Oklahoma State January 22, Texas Tech January 29 and Baylor January 30. Spring trips to Stanford, Northwestern and Michigan are in the works. Wilson’s mother is an educator at Lakeview Centennial, and the academic component will play a huge part in Wilson’s college decision.
2023 defensive lineman Riley Van Poppel impressed in appearance, and in one on one’s. The son for former MLB pitcher Todd Van Poppel has broad shoulders with the frame to carry 300 pounds. He displayed quality initial movement skills, and a firy and physical mindset in one on one’s. Van Poppel is very likely to be recruited as an offensive guard at the next level, and is open to making the position move. He has picked up offers from TCU, Nebraska, Colorado, SMU, Rice, North Texas and Tulane since December 14. He will make an unofficial visit to Nebraska March 5.
Junior offensive tackle Tyree Adams led a strong group from Louisiana at the event. Adams has a frame with plenty of growth potential, long arms, strong hands and high-end knee bend. Adams lists a top 3 of LSU, Ole Miss and Mississippi State from the offer list. He plans to make a visit to Alabama March 5.
2023 EDGE Billy Walton Jr. sports 18 offers. He told On3 that he will make March visits to Texas Tech, Kansas State and Texas A&M. He made short drive visits to TCU and SMU in late January. The offer list in January included Texas Tech, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Purdue, Kansas State and Houston. TCU and Texas Tech are putting forth the most consistent effort among the Power 5 offers.
2023 offensive lineman Connor Stroh competed Saturday fresh off a power lifting meet that saw him record a career-best 575 pound squat. Stroh told On3 that he has a goal of 605 pounds at regionals in a few weeks. The 6-foot-7, 345-pound IOL prospect has nine offers with serious interest from more than a dozen others. Texas and Baylor have been extremely consistent in the recruitment of Stroh.
2025 EDGE Landon Rink arguably had the best day of any freshman at the event. He took home one of four DL MVP honors at the event. The 6-foot-2, 230-pounder burst onto the scene in 2021 at Cy Fair High, culminating with a six tackle and three sack performance in a playoff game. The son for former Texas defensive lineman Shane Rink currently has offers from Texas Tech and SMU.
On3 Consensus 3-star IOL Andre Cojoe told On3 Saturday that he is looking at spring visits to TCU, Houston and possibly Oklahoma. Texas is also a likely unofficial visit in April, but his mom wants him to take a look at schools he hasn’t been to as much as Texas.
2023 defensive lineman Cullen Fite impressed Saturday with a combination of quickness and power. Five overpowered offensive linemen in one on one’s with initial explosion and contact power. The 6-foot-1, 270-pounder has offers from Kansas State, Arizona State, UTSA, North Texas and ULM. He will make a visit to Mississippi State march 5.