There is a feeling of being better equipped to handle what’s ahead for the half-dozen Chattanooga-area high school players who just returned from national combines.
“I saw a lot of other quarterbacks and it was fun throwing with guys that are expected to be major college prospects,” Signal Mountain quarterback Reese Phillips said.
He was joined at the U.S. Army junior combine by Baylor linebacker Colton Jumper. Cleveland quarterback Austin Herink and Walker Valley linebacker Tanner Dillard were at the Army’s sophomore combine, while Cleveland linebacker and running back David Morgan and lineman T.J. Bryant were at the U.S. Marine Corps’ Semper Fidelis junior combine along with Boyd-Buchanan lineman Malik Brewer.
“It was a really good experience,” the 6-foot-2 Jumper said. “All of us got great national exposure.”
Jumper is Baylor’s third prospect in as many years to be invited to the Army combine, following Vanderbilt-bound offensive lineman Barrett Gouger and linebacker David Helton, who moved into Duke’s starting lineup midway of the 2011 season as a true freshman.