Since St. John Bosco and Upland will be in different CIF Southern Section playoff divisions (Upland is still in D2), the state’s top two juniors won’t face off this season. Photos: Twitter.com.
We still have a few more posts for 2017-18 school year honors, but are going to get serious with preseason football over the next four weeks, beginning today with a top 100 player ranking for the the Class of 2020. St. John Bosco quarterback D.J. Uigalelei isn’t unanimous as the No. 1 overall prospect of the group, but is still No. 1. Linebacker Justin “Babyman” Flowe is also near the very top. The rest of the top five according to early rankings from 247/Scout and Rivals also looks solid with RB Kendall Milton, WR Johnny Wilson and DB Elias Ricks. Go inside for all 100 players in drop-down, table-style menus and if you’re not Gold Club yet you can now look at this list and all other Gold Club content on CalHiSports.com for new, monthly rate of $3.99.
Note: All player ranking charts in football and boys basketball are for Gold Club members only. We will do a mid-season update for the Class of 2019 and Class of 2020 and both of those will be for Gold Club only. This is a great time to sign up and you can get it for just $3.99 for one month or $9.99 for three months. For details, CLICK HERE.
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These player rankings are based on a consensus combination of those rankings compiled by the three major national recruiting networks — 247/Scout, Rivals and ESPN. We also have seen many of the players in person last season and have added those evaluations. ESPN does not yet show any Class of 2020 player rankings but has profiles of many of these players. Rivals is currently showing a top 40 list for California while the 247/Scout lists are more than 100 deep.
For the Class of 2020 in California football, Rivals is listing St. John Bosco quarterback D.J. Uigalelei at No. 1 while 247/Scout has Upland linebacker Justin Flowe at No. 1 with Uigalelei right behind. The two networks also have running back Kendall Milton from Buchanan of Clovis and receiver Johnny Wilson in the next two slots, but 247/Scout has Milton third with Rivals showing Wilson in third. Both of them rank Santa Ana Mater Dei defensive back Elias Ricks at No. 5.
Kendall Milton recently tweeted a list of his top 10 schools: Alabama, Fresno State, Florida State, Georgia, Miami, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Texas & USC. Photo: Hudl.com.
Since Uigalelei was our State Sophomore of the Year we are listing him first for the class as well. He came on as the Braves’ starter after the first two games, but still used his massive frame (6-5, 245 now on most lists) and strong arm to pile up 2,733 yards passing with 29 TDs and just two interceptions. D.J. also rushed for 379 yards and four scores.
Flowe, who goes by the nickname “Babyman,” got some varsity experience as a freshman during the 2016 season, then exploded as a sophomore last season. He went sideline-to-sideline to amass 119 tackles (nine for loss) with six sacks, three caused fumbles, one interception and one blocked field goal. He helped Upland to a 12-1 record.
Milton was our State Freshman Athlete of the Year for 2016-17 because he rushed for more than 500 yards for Buchanan’s varsity and was one of the top sprinters in the highly regarded Tri-Rivers Athletic Conference. Milton didn’t do track this last school year so the State Sophomore Athlete of the Year honor went in a different direction. He’s up to 6-2, 210 pounds and is continuing to work on his speed.
On a team two seasons ago at Calabasas that was loaded with receivers, Wilson still stood out with 58 catches for 855 yards and 14 TDs. He followed that up last season with 52 catches for 899 yards and 11 scores. Calabasas played 15 games in 2016 and not as many last season so that primarily accounts for the lower number of catches and touchdowns. Now showing at 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds, Wilson’s size and strength while able to play on the outside should cause nightmares for Calabasas foes this season. He’ll also team up with one of the top Class of 2019 receivers, Mycah Pittman, to make it even harder to defend the Coyotes.
Rounding out the top five is Ricks. He started 2017 as part of a question mark at Mater Dei since the Monarchs were replacing almost everyone from their secondary from the previous season. It was no problem. Even as a sophomore, Ricks showed elite skills and athleticism. He ended with four interceptions and two caused fumbles and during the spring was getting offers from just about every major D1 college.
Please follow the tables below for the top 100 players in California ranked for the Class of 2020.
