David Cornwell recruit updates: 2014 pro-style quarterback

The initial list of 11 for the Elite 11 quarterback finals was released Monday, and includes some surprising results, including the diminutive David Blough as the No. 1 QB, the inclusion of Luke Rubenzer, and the exclusion of David Cornwell. Of course, this list is preliminary, and can change. The rankings are based on on and off-field performance, of which the media gets to see only a fraction due to drastic new media restrictions put in place for 2013.

Here is the group, in order.

David Cornwell is a really intriguing quarterback prospect. At 6’5 and 230 pounds, Cornwell already has the build of a college senior. With a huge arm and good mobility for his size, Cornwell carries a consensus four-star rating, and is widely considered one of the top pocket passers in the country. Cornwell was the first quarterback invited to the 2013 Elite 11 after a strong performance at the Dallas NFTC and Elite 11. He passed for over 2,700 yards with 27 TDs last season and ran for nearly 800 more with six rushing scores. On June 14 he committed to Alabama over offers from Auburn, Indiana, Kansas, Miami (Fla.), Missouri, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Tennessee, Tulsa, Virginia Tech and Washington State. Cornwell recently won a battle against the OSSAA for his eligibility in his senior year. Cornwell is on Twitter @DavidCornwell5

Through three days of the Elite 11 in preparation for The Opening, Cornwell has had some great plays and some struggles. SB Nation spoke with Cornwell in the video above, and with Trent Dilfer, the head coach of the Elite 11, below.

At 6’5 and 230 pounds, David Cornwell already has the build of a college senior. Out of Norman (Okla.) North High School with a huge arm and good mobility for his size, Cornwell carries a consensus four-star rating, and is widely considered one of the top pocket passers in the country.

Cornwell was the first quarterback invited to the 2013 Elite 11 after a strong performance at the Dallas NFTC and Elite 11. He passed for over 2,700 yards with 27 TDs last season and ran for nearly 800 more with six rushing scores. On June 14 he committed to Alabama over offers from Auburn, Indiana, Kansas, Miami (Fla.), Missouri, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Tennessee, Tulsa, Virginia Tech and Washington State.

Cornwell was recently in a battle with the governing body of Oklahoma’s high school athletics over his eligibility. He won and will be able to play his senior season. You can read more about the appeal here.

Cornwell stands 6’5, weighs 225 pounds, and has good athleticism for his size. He also has a rocket arm and is basically built like a college senior right now. While he will be 19 before graduating high school, his physical stature is still very impressive. Cornwell’s full scouting report is available here.

David Cornwell, one of the top quarterback recruits in the country, will be able to play his senior season. This, after the QB won his appeal against the Oklahoma Secondary School Athletics Association (OSSAA). The OSSAA had contended that Cornwell was out of eligibility because he started high school in 2009.

In 2011, however, Cornwell was out of football and school when he took the semester off to care for his mother, who was battling a serious medical issue.

The long and winding eligibility saga for Norman (Ok.) North quarterback David Cornwell finally came to an end on Friday afternoon, the 6’5, 230-pound passer revealed via Twitter:

A consensus four-star prospect rated as the top pro-style passer in the country by 247Sports, Cornwell’s appeal was heard on Tuesday, but no decision handed down for several days. At issue was the fact that he missed the fall semester in 2011 when he was in Florida because his mother was suffering from what the family called in a release “an unexpected, debilitating illness that could have taken her life.”

Sunday afternoon after the Columbus Elite 11 and NFTC events, I tweeted the following:

As of this week, about 28 recruits are committed to the 64 teams of the BCS conferences (excluding the Big East, which is in its last year of existence). That number should grow to roughly 75 by the end of the year, as almost every BCS team takes a QB, and more will take two than zero.

I spoke with five-star quarterback David Cornwell of Norman (Okla.) North High School this afternoon regarding his fight for eligibility against the Oklahoma Secondary School Athletics Association (OSSAA). Cornwell is a 6’5, 230-pound phenom with good athleticism and a huge arm. He is believed to be Alabama’s top quarterback target, and is also No. 1 on the board for several other major schools. Attorney Mitch McCuistian, Cornwell’s counsel, also joined in on the call.

Cornwell’s appeal was to be heard Tuesday, but the issue was tabled, pending a special hearing at the Cornwell’s request on June 12th. It is also possible that Cornwell could be ruled eligible on or before that date, eliminating the need for the special hearing.

David Cornwell is one of the best quarterback recruits in the country. Out of Norman (Ok.) North High School, Cornwell is a five-star recruit and holds offers from several major schools, including Alabama. Now he is in a fight for his eligibility. Tuesday, his appeal was heard before Oklahoma’s governing body of athletics. As of 12:20 EST, no determination had been made.

Cornwell’s P.R. firm put out the following release on the situation.

David Cornwell 2014 QB--JR Highlights (via 247SportsStudio)

David Cornwell is one of the top quarterback recruits in the country. And Saturday, he took part in the Dallas Elite 11 Quarterback Camp. Cornwell was extremely impressive, earning an invite to the Elite 11 Quarterback Finals, and drawing a comparison to an NFL quarterback from instructor Trent Dilfer:

Dilfer continued:

ALLEN, Texas -- It wasn’t hard to pick out Norman (Ok.) North quarterback David Cornwell from the crowd over the weekend at the Dallas Elite 11 regional camp on Saturday and the Dallas Nike Football Training Camp on Sunday.

After all, Cornwell stood head and shoulders above his competition, both literally and figuratively, taller than most of the other quarterbacks at all of 6-5, his throws unmistakeable in their velocity, tight spin, and pure jump from his cannon of a right arm.

Norman (Ok.) North pro-style quarterback David Cornwell was head and shoulders above the field at Saturday’s Dallas Elite 11 camp, but it took another strong performance on Sunday to earn him the invite that he really wanted:

Elite 11 camp coach and ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer told SB Nation Recruiting after the event that Cornwell was close to earning the invite on Saturday, but that he wanted to see him work against live competition on Sunday before making the call for Cornwell to become the first invite to what will be a smaller group of Elite 11 quarterbacks this year.

IRVING, Texas -- High standards.

They’re the norm for the Elite 11 quarterback camp, which held its first regional competition on Saturday at the Dallas Cowboys practice facility, kick starting the nationwide tour that will result in invitations to California for the finals.