Nine Best in Bama Seniors, Including Alabama, Auburn and Texas Commits, Left Off All-Star Classic Roster

MOBILE, Ala. — The Alabama roster for this year’s Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic is loaded with college-bound talent, and so is the list of seniors who were left off it. Nine of the 31 seniors in the latest Best in Bama rankings are not on the All-Star Classic roster, including commitments to Alabama, Auburn, Texas, North Carolina State and Arkansas.

The omissions offer a measure of how deep this year’s senior class is across the state. They also show how the selection committee’s rules, which limit each school to three players and require every district and classification to be represented, shape the team that will take the field Saturday, Dec. 12, at Hancock Whitney Stadium on the University of South Alabama campus.

Who made it, and who didn’t

The Best in Bama list ranks the state’s top high school football prospects regardless of classification or graduating class. Thirty-one seniors appear in the updated rankings, and 22 of them are set to play in the all-star game.

The nine seniors from the rankings who are not currently on the roster are:

• Gunner Rivers, QB, St. Michael (North Carolina State commitment)
• Cason Myers, QB, Auburn High (Arkansas commitment)
• Braxton Salster, Pleasant Valley (Virginia Tech commitment as a tight end)
• Junior Tu’upo, S, Thompson (Texas commitment)
• Donivan Moore, DL, Bessemer City (Auburn commitment)
• Cedrick Simmons, WR, Selma (Alabama commitment)
• Elijah Brown, DL, Prattville (Kentucky commitment)
• Braden Gordon, LB, Montgomery Academy (Georgia Tech commitment)
• Trenton McCorvey, LB, Thompson (Baylor commitment)

A crowded quarterback room

Quarterback is where the depth is most obvious. The committee chose Thompson’s Trent Seaborn, an Alabama commitment, and Saraland’s Jamison Roberts, an Oklahoma commitment, and that choice is difficult to argue with.

Seaborn became the state’s all-time leading passer earlier this season and is the reigning Class 7A Back of the Year. Roberts threw a school-record seven touchdown passes against Blount on Oct. 16, then threw for 409 yards and four touchdowns and ran for two more in Saraland’s 56-14 win at Spanish Fort on Friday, Oct. 23.

Several other quarterbacks with strong cases were left out.

Gunner Rivers, St. Michael

The North Carolina State commitment and son of St. Michael coach Philip Rivers was injured in the Cardinals’ season opener. He returned this month, throwing four touchdown passes in a 48-27 win at Glenwood on Oct. 16, but missing more than a month of the season hurt his all-star candidacy.

His status has changed again since then. On Friday, Philip Rivers said Gunner will not play the rest of the regular season because he did not respond as hoped after playing two games in five days, and that his availability for the playoffs will be decided the week of the first round. Gunner Rivers has 10,633 career passing yards, fourth in Alabama High School Athletic Association history.

Cason Myers, Auburn High

Myers, an Arkansas commitment, is another Best in Bama quarterback who is not on the roster. Like Rivers, he joins Seaborn and Roberts in the state rankings.

Bobby Coleman, Central-Phenix City

Central-Phenix City coach Cody Flournoy would not trade Bobby Coleman for any other quarterback in the state.

Charlie Taaffe, Vestavia Hills

Vestavia Hills’ Charlie Taaffe is such a good athlete that he could have helped the all-star team as a running back if given the chance. In a 32-14 season-opening win over Parker, Taaffe ran for 178 yards, including a 48-yard touchdown, and passed for 107 more.

“What else is there to say. If he stays healthy, we’re a tough out. We really are. We should be in the playoffs. If he’s healthy at the end of the year, watch out. I believe that, and our kids believe that, too.”

— Vestavia Hills coach Robert Evans, after the season opener

Beyond quarterback

The snubs extend to other positions. Pleasant Valley’s Braxton Salster, another Best in Bama selection, is having a strong all-around senior season, though he is committed to Virginia Tech as a tight end. He is not on the roster.

Thompson has two ranked seniors who were left off: Texas safety commitment Junior Tu’upo and Baylor linebacker commitment Trenton McCorvey. Prattville defensive lineman Elijah Brown, a Kentucky commitment, was also left off.

Two in-state commitments are missing as well. Bessemer City’s Donivan Moore is committed to Auburn as a defensive lineman, and Selma’s Cedrick Simmons is an Alabama wide receiver commitment. Montgomery Academy linebacker Braden Gordon, a Georgia Tech commitment, rounds out the list.

Why the rules make selection difficult

The selection committee works within several guidelines that limit its choices:

• Seniors only: The roster is limited to players in their final year of high school.
• Three-player cap: No more than three players can be selected from any one high school.
• Statewide representation: Every district of the state and every classification must be represented.

Thompson and Prattville are the only two schools with three selections, meaning both programs reached the cap. That helps explain why highly rated seniors such as Tu’upo, McCorvey and Brown were left out. Thompson’s three selections are Seaborn, defensive lineman Cameron Pritchett and wide receiver Darion Moseley. Prattville’s are wide receiver Deshawn Hall, linebacker Jason Crenshaw Jr. and defensive back Jayden Aparicio-Bailey.

The representation rule means the committee must also find room for standouts from smaller schools and every region of the state, which can push out players from deeper, larger programs.

J.T. Lawrence, director of the Alabama High School Athletic Directors and Coaches Association, said when the roster was announced that the committee “spends countless hours evaluating film, communicating with coaches across the state, and carefully considering each nominee.”

A strong local presence on the roster

Mobile and Baldwin County schools placed nine players on the 42-man Alabama roster:

• Jamison Roberts, QB, Saraland (Oklahoma commitment)
• Kamron Smith, RB, Mary G. Montgomery
• Carter Davis, WR, Gulf Shores (West Virginia commitment)
• Avrian “AJ” Pauley, DL, McGill-Toolen (Alabama commitment)
• Jabarrius Garror, EDGE, Vigor (Texas commitment)
• Isaac McNeil, ILB, Vigor (Auburn commitment)
• Ellis McGaskin, ILB, Williamson (Florida commitment)
• Jaylen Scott, DB, Williamson (Oklahoma commitment)
• Elijah Malone, DB, Gulf Shores

Pauley is ranked No. 28 in the latest Best in Bama rankings. Alabama defensive line coach Freddie Roach watched him play Friday night in McGill-Toolen’s 20-17 loss to UMS-Wright.

Two area head coaches will also help lead the Alabama team. Philip Rivers will serve as offensive coordinator, and Alma Bryant coach Bart Sessions will coordinate the defense under head coach Richie Busby of Helena.

About the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic

The annual game pits the top seniors from Alabama against their counterparts from Mississippi. Alabama won last year’s game 40-10 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, for its sixth straight win in the series, and leads the all-time series 28-11.

This year’s game returns to Hancock Whitney Stadium one week after the stadium hosts all 12 AHSAA football and flag football state championship games, Dec. 1-5.

If you go

• Event: Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic
• Date: Saturday, Dec. 12
• Location: Hancock Whitney Stadium, University of South Alabama, Mobile