SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- One of the nation’s top wide receivers will commit on Saturday during the US Army All-American Bowl, as Virginia Beach (Va.) Bishop Sullivan Catholic’s Jamil Kamar will choose between Pittsburgh, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Jamil Kamara has final three, ready to announce at Army Bowl
Will the consensus four-star receiver stay in state at Virginia?
The Badgers stand out from the other two schools in terms of recent success, something the 6’2, 211-pound wide receiver finds appealing.
“They’re definitely a winning program -- they’re going to a bowl game each and every year,” Kamara said. “My relationship with Coach Beatty is real well and they need someone to come in and play Jared Abbrederis’ spot, so they said that could be me.”
The initial success of head coach Gary Andersen, who just finished his first season in Madison, is also a positive for the Badgers.
“I think he did a lot of great things in his first year,” Kamara said. “He came in for his in-home visit and If let like we had a great relationship. He seemed like he’s real cool and I could get along with him easily.”
There are several reasons why the Panthers remain in the mix for Kamara’s services.
“Coach Bobby Ingram, he’s a real good coach,” he said. “He played in the league for 14 years and he knows what he’s doing. My family is from Pennsylvania. And they need someone to come in, so Pitt is another excellent opportunity for early playing time.”
Now that doesn’t necessarily mean that his family has a lot of Pitt fans in it or that Kamara grew up a fan of the Panthers, but rather that he has ties to the area.
In the end, the ties to the home state of Virginia and several other factors conspire to make the Cavaliers the favorite.
“It’s real close to home, I felt like I was at home because all my friends go there. The offensive scheme fits me really well because it’s the same thing I do in high school. They could really use me in their offense, too. Early playing time is a possibility because they need some receivers and I could get right on the field. And my relationship with the coaches is real well.”
How many players does Kamara know on the Virginia team? Not exactly most of them, but the number is quite remarkable.
“I know easily 15 or 20 players on the team right now. My friends like Quin Blanding and Andrew Brown are going there. They’ve got a good class coming in.”
All of those connections mean that head coach Mike London has a legion of extra recruiters selling the program’s direction to the in-state product.
“They said the program is definitely getting better. They have a lot of pieces right now and they just need a couple extra pieces to finish the puzzle. I see that all coming together soon. I think they’re capable of doing a lot of things in the future.”
Top prospects typically have a lot of confidence in their ability to help provide one of the final pieces in a puzzle about to come together for a program trying to improve and Kamara is no exception.
“Yeah, definitely,” he said when asked if he could help put Virginia over the top.
“One of their biggest issues last season was that they were having trouble throwing the ball. If I go there, they’ll have a pretty good group of receivers.”
The ability to play early is something that will factor heavily into Kamara’s Saturday decision.
“Yeah, definitely, early playing time is one of the biggest factors in my decision, coming in and playing as a freshman is really something that I want to do.”
However, since all three schools on Kamara’s final list present that opportunity, none of the three have an advantage in that area, but Pitt and Wisconsin both have an advantage over Virginia because of the style of offense the big receiver with excellent ball skills prefers.
“I like a pro-style look more just because of the receiver that I am and because it gets you well prepared for the NFL,” Kamara said.
Despite that being the case, his Crystal Ball predictions have been trending heavily in favor of home-state Virginia, which may not have the offense that he prefers, but does have all of those connections with the current Cavalier players and commits.
