Davon Mitchell, a tight end at Los Alamitos, catches a pass during a camp earlier this spring. The transfer from Allen, Texas, reclassified to the Class of 2024 during the summer. Photo: Twitter.com.
Here’s an updated look at the state’s most heavily recruited players for the Class of 2024 as fall practices begin. We first did this update last spring and usually don’t do another one a few months later, but there were plenty of players who transferred and we had a major reclassification that impacted both the 2025 and 2024 lists. Mater Dei of Santa Ana has four of the top nine ranked players, which isn’t a surprise since the Monarchs have perhaps the best collection of returning talent in the history of high school football. Defending CIF Open Division state champ St. John Bosco isn’t far behind with three of the top 11. QB Julian Sayin of Carlsbad also is still holding on to the top spot.
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The 2022 season State Junior of the Year, quarterback Elijah Brown from Mater Dei of Santa Ana, was slotted one position higher than Carlsbad’s Julian Sayin in player ranking updates last spring by the 247 Sports recruiting network.
Sayin, however, is still higher according to Rivals.com and ESPN plus his commitment to national powerhouse Alabama hasn’t gone anywhere. Sayin, who also was the MVP at the prestigious Elite 11 national event earlier this summer, thus remains as the No. 1 player in the state for the Class of 2024 HOT 100 player rankings. He also has a clear path in front of him to have a great senior season even though his Carlsbad team (or any other team perhaps in the nation other than St. John Bosco) won’t be playing and beating Mater Dei.
