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The ESPNU High School All-American Game, a new ESPN owned-and-operated annual all-star football competition spotlighting the nation's top high school seniors, will debut Saturday, Jan. 5, 2008 at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Fla. Organized in conjunction with Intersport, a leading sports and entertainment media and marketing company with over 20 years experience, the event will be broadcast live to a national audience on ABC at 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. CT and noon MT), and will be aired on tape delay at noon PT.
National recruiting analysts and talent evaluators from ESPN Scouts, Inc., will select players for both team rosters from among The ESPN 150, a nationwide ranking of top prep football prospects. A total of 80-84 players will be invited, with all players having the opportunity to also participate in a multi-faceted skills competition, which will be televised Friday, Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. on ESPN2. ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network, will provide extensive coverage of the event throughout the week, including team practice sessions. Other ancillary events include an awards banquet and a player tour of the Disney facilities.
"The ESPNU High School All-American Game will give players from across the country the opportunity to play alongside one another, while providing fans a glimpse of the future college and possibly NFL stars of tomorrow," said Burke Magnus, vice president and general manager, ESPNU. "We look forward to growing this all-star game into one of the country's premier sporting events for amateur athletics, while also giving even more prep athletes an opportunity to showcase their talent on a national stage."
"This event is a great example of ESPN's mission to reach a diverse group of sports fans from many different communities throughout the nation," added James Brown, senior vice president, new program development, ESPN. "Having the game at a nationally-renowned facility like Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex, which is located in a popular travel destination and strong high school football market, makes it a terrific foundation for this exciting new venture."
More than forty players have accepted invitations to participate in the 2008 ESPNU High School All-American Game, including Jermie Calhoun (RB - Van HS, Van, Texas), A.J. Green (WR - Summerville HS, Ridgeville, S.C), Will Hill (DB ? Saint Peter's HS, West Orange, N.J.), Julio Jones (WR ? Foley HS, Foley, Ala.) and E.J. Manuel (QB - Bayside HS, Virginia Beach, Va.).
(More players to be added)
Name Position Hometown School
Dwayne Allen
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TE
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Fayetteville, NC
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Terry Sanford High School
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Blake Ayles
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TE
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Orange, Calif.
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Lutheran High School
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Jonathan Baldwin
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WR
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Aliquippa, Pa.
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Aliquippa High School
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Brandon Barnes
|
ATH
|
Louisburg, N.C.
|
Bunn High School
|
Xavier Brewer
|
CB
|
Jacksonville, Fla.
|
Bartram High School
|
Ramon Buchanan
|
OLB
|
Melbourne, Fla.
|
Palm Bay High School
|
Jermie Calhoun
|
RB
|
Van, Texas
|
Van High School
|
Nigel Carr
|
OLB
|
Jacksonville, Fla.
|
First Coast High School
|
Braxston Cave
|
OC
|
Granger, Ind.
|
Penn High School
|
Taylor Cook
|
QB
|
Eagle Lake, Texas
|
Rice High School
|
Keanon Cooper
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OLB
|
Dallas, Texas
|
Skyline High School
|
Aundre Dean
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RB
|
Katy, Texas
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Katy High School
|
Vaughn Dotsy
|
OG
|
Ventura, Calif.
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Saint Bonaventure High School
|
Dee Finley
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FS
|
Auburn, Ala.
|
Auburn High School
|
Daniel Franklin
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LB
|
Clarkesville, Ga.
|
Habersham Central High School
|
A.J. Green
|
WR
|
Ridgeville, S.C.
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Summerville High School
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Braden Hanson
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QB
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Charlotte, N.C.
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Charlotte Latin School
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Brandon Harris
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CB
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Miami, Fla.
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Booker T. Washington High School
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Antoine Hicks
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ATH
|
Arlington, Texas
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Timberview High School
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Will Hill
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ATH
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West Orange, N.J.
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Saint Peter's High School
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Jarvis Humphrey
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DT
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Cedar Hill, Texas
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Cedar Hill High School
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Julio Jones
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WR
|
Foley, Ala.
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Foley High School
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Landry Jones
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QB
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Artesia, N.M.
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Artesia High School
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Neiko Lipscomb
|
DB
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Tucker, Ga.
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Tucker High School
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Tyler Love
|
OT
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Birmingham, Ala.
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Mountain Brook High School
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Jon Major
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OLB
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Parker, Colo.
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Ponderosa High School
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E.J. Manuel
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QB
|
Virginia Beach, Va.
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Bayside High School
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Michael Matt
|
FB
|
Jeanette, Pa.
|
Jeanette High School
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Antoine McClain
|
OT
|
Anniston, Ala.
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Anniston High School
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Terrance Parks
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DB
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Fairborn, Ga.
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Creekside High School
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Burton Scott
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WR
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Prichard, Ala.
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Vigor High School
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Jamoris Slaughter
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FS
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Stone Mountain, Ga.
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Tucker High School
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Kye Staley
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RB
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Guthrie, Okla.
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Guthrie High School
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Andrew Sweat
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LB
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Washington, Pa.
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Trinity High School
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Carlton Thomas
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RB
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Frostproof, Fla.
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Frostproof High School
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Chase Thomas
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DE
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Atlanta, Ga.
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Walton High School
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Brandon Thompson
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DT
|
Thomasville, Ga.
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Thomasville High School
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Courtney Upshaw
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DE
|
Eufaula, Ala.
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Eufaula High School
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Deion Walker
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WR
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Christchurch, Va.
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Christchurch School
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Charles Whitlock
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ATH
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Chester, S.C.
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Chester High School
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Christian Wilson
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LB
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McKees Rocks, Pa.
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Montour High School
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R.J. Washington
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DE
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Fort Worth, Texas
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Fossil Ridge High School
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E.J. Woods
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FS
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Culver City, Calif.
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Crespi Carmelite High School
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The ESPN networks have covered high school sports since the 1980's, including boys' and girls' basketball, football and lacrosse competitions. Notable prep events televised in recent years by the ESPN networks have included top athletes such as LeBron James (St. Vincent-St. Mary's), Sebastian Telfair (Abraham Lincoln High School) and Greg Oden (Lawrence North), and top 25 football programs such as De La Salle High School (Calif.), Hoover High School (Ala.) and North Fort Myers High School (Fla.). Other featured events have included the McDonald's All-American High School Boys' and Girls' Basketball Games, the Jordan Brand All-American Classic and the Under Armour All-America Lacrosse Classic.
ESPNU has also increased coverage of high school sports with more live games and college recruiting studio shows, including ESPNU Recruiting Insider and its annual National Signing Day show in February. In 2006, ESPN acquired Scouts, Inc. to produce more in-depth scouting information primarily for high school, college and pro football across ESPN's media assets. In addition, year-long recruiting coverage is available at Recruiting Insider on ESPN.com, which provides in-depth national news and information about the top prep athletes from across the country and the collegiate athletic programs recruiting them.
Intersport was formed in 1985 and is an Emmy Award-winning creator, producer and distributor of original sports and entertainment programming and an industry leader in event marketing and corporate hospitality. The Intersport Media Group is one of the largest independent producers of sports programming in the U.S. It distributes sports content across all media platforms. The Intersport Event Marketing Group designs and executes national event marketing initiatives, including mobile marketing tours in professional, collegiate, amateur and youth sports, as well as major event corporate hospitality programs. Intersport is headquartered in Chicago with offices in New York City and Los Angeles and can be found on the Internet at www.intersportnet.com.
Visit www.espnmediazone.com for ESPN's latest releases, schedules, news, photos, video and audio clips, and more.
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