BEVERTON, Ore. – The Opening Finals is back like it never left. After a six-year hiatus and eight years removed from Nike World Headquarters on the picturesque 400-acre Phillip H. Knight campus, day one is officially in the books. 120 of the nation’s top recruits participated in the Jordan Training Camp Thursday morning before the main event of 7v7 action featured three “jamboree” games for each of the six teams to determine seeding for bracket play. The West and Southeast teams earned byes in the double-elimination tournament, while the South, Southwest, Northeast, and Midwest squads played a fourth game in the pouring rain on Thursday night.
The nearly nine hours of action across both sessions provided plenty of noteworthy moments and big-picture takeaways. Here is the latest from the 247Sports scouting team after digesting Thursday’s loaded slate of best-on-best competition.
ALPHA DOG: 5-STAR TE JAXON DOLLAR (GEORGIA COMMIT)
The Northeast squad struggled during 7-on-7 action, but Dollar more than held his own against every defense he faced on the day. The five-star UGA commit and No. 2-ranked tight end for us finished with eight receptions for 117 yards and four touchdowns, the best catch-to-touchdown conversion rate of any pass-catcher on Thursday.
Even with the added attention garnered from scoring over half of his team’s points over four games, Dollar was practically unguardable. The 6-foot-3 ½, 222-pound match-up nightmare regularly defeated double coverage and had a few high-flying snags with multiple defenders draped over him. Dollar’s above-the-rim bounce was on display earlier Thursday with an Aaron Gordon-inspired dunk contest submission, and there was no question surrounding his ability to translate his hops between the lines.
Dollar profiles as a modern move tight end with the ability to create separation across the full route tree in multiple alignments. Georgia has no shortage of game-breaking tight ends on campus, but Dollar’s unique skillset could have the No. 1 player from North Carolina pushing for snaps early in Athens.
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–SaRod Baker, Top247 RB (Texas Tech commit): It’s never easy to impress Ryan Clark, but the former NFL safety was overheard on the sidelines gushing about Baker and what he can be in the coming years. The No. 4-ranked running back in the Top247 simply made linebackers look silly during the Jordan Training Camp before quickly emerging as a go-to target for his team during 7-on-7 play. Baker finished the day with 13 catches for 181 yards and a touchdown. He’s got true three-down potential and looks like a future star in the Big 12. – Andrew Ivins, 247Sports director of scouting
