Nation’s top high school football players set to compete in Under Armour Next All-America Game
ORLANDO, FLORIDA – Some of the nation’s top high school football players will strap on the helmets on Wednesday, January 3, to play in one of the most heralded contests of the season: the 2024 Under Armour Next All-America Football Game.
The 17th edition of the Under Armour Next All-America Game caps a week of activities, which included four practices at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Kissimmee. The eighth-grade game kicks off at 10:30 a.m., followed by the All-America Game at 4 p.m. – both at Camping World Stadium.
More than 100 of the nation’s top players will make up Team Fire and Team Ice, including at least 80 athletes in the Class of 2024 rankings. The country’s No. 1-ranked player, defensive back Ellis Robinson IV, a Georgia commit, is a captain for Team Fire. Georgia spent much of the 2023 season ranked No. 1 in the country.
Four other team captains for Team Fire also are headed to SEC schools: No. 6 wide receiver Cameron Coleman (Auburn), No. 9 wide receiver Mike Matthews (Tennessee), No. 14 defensive end Dylan Stewart (South Carolina) and No. 268 quarterback Dante Reno (South Carolina).
Team Ice will be captained by No. 2 defensive back Jaylen Mbakwe (Alabama), No. 3 quarterback Julian Sayin (Alabama), No. 10 defensive end Colin Simmons (Texas) and No. 17 wide receiver Joshisa Trader (Miami). Sayin, however, is listed as unable to participate.
More than 30 players have committed to programs that are ranked in the top 10 of the final College Football Player rankings, including Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) running back Micah Kaapana, who is headed to Michigan.
Locally, Rockledge defensive back Jaylen Heyward (UCF) and Lake Mary offensive lineman Joshua Raymond (Vanderbilt) will play for Team Fire. Both led their teams to the Florida state playoffs this season.
Team Fire also includes quarterback Derek Lagway (Florida) of Willis, Texas, who is ranked No. 17 in the nation.
At least two players are scheduled to announce their college commitments during the game: wide receiver Braylon Burnside of Starkville Mississippi, at the end of second quarter; and 2025 prospect Harlem Berry of St. Martin’s Episcopal School in Metairie, Louisiana, at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
