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2017 U.S. Army All-American Bowl: DB Bubba Bolden, RB Eno Benjamin, among five* on Sun Devils’ radar

*Developing: Bubba Bolden may be committing to the Sun Devils during the 2017 Army Bowl following Friday night’s developments.

By Kaelen Jones
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: JAN 03 US Army All-American Bowl Photo by John Albright/Icon Sportswire/Corbis via Getty Images

The 2017 U.S. Army All-American Bowl takes place Saturday, Jan. 7, in San Antonio, Texas. The game features 100 of the top college football prospects across the country split into two teams according to geography — East and West.

The Arizona State Sun Devils have their eyes on several recruits participating in the showcase. Luckily for fans, their primary targets are all playing for the same team, the West.

With that said, here’s all you need to know to tune into the game:

When: Saturday, Jan. 7 — 11 a.m. Arizona Time (1 p.m. ET)
Where: Alamodome — San Antonio, TX – Military City USA
How to Watch: NBC (check your local listing)

Who to Watch at the 2017 U.S. Army All-American Bowl

Name School Position, # Top Schools Listed Measurements Scout Rivals 247 ESPN
Name School Position, # Top Schools Listed Measurements Scout Rivals 247 ESPN
Eno Benjamin Wylie East (Texas) RB, #25 ASU, Texas 5'9"-5'10", 203 lbs 4* 4* 4* 4*
Austin Jackson North Canyon (Ariz.) OL, #77 ASU, USC, Washington 6'5"-6'6", 255-280 lbs 5* 4* 5* 4*
Odua Isibor St. Mary’s (Ariz.) DL, #63 ASU, Texas A&M, UCLA, Yale 6'4"-6'5", 215-235 lbs 3* 3* 3* 3*
KJ Jarrell Saguaro (Ariz.) DB, #24 ASU, Cal, USC 6'1.5"-6'2", 175-185 lbs 4* 4* 4* 4*
Bubba Bolden Bishop Gorman (Nev.) DB, #28 ASU, Ohio State, USC 6'2.5"-6'3", 183-200 lbs 4* 4* 4* 4*

Below, we break down the current status of each prospect.

Eno Benjamin

Originally an Iowa commit, Benjamin’s choices appear to have dwindled down to Texas and ASU. However, it’s plausible to believe the Sun Devils have the inside track for the consensus four-star tailback, considering the Longhorns already recently earned the commitments of 2017 running backs Toneil Carter and Daniel Young. (ASU currently only has one running back committed to its 2017 class, Trelon Smith.)

Benjamin will announce his decision during the game Saturday, so this is certainly a development to keep an eye on, and a reason to tune into the action.

This week, the Wylie East High (Texas) product flashed his talent during practice, even making an impressive catch caught on camera.

Below are highlights of Benjamin, which features him operating out of a Wildcat Sparky formation on some plays.

Austin Jackson

Considered by several scouting services as Arizona's top in-state prospect, Jackson is a highly-coveted target.

The offensive lineman fielded a multitude of offers, but is believed to have trimmed his list down to ASU, USC, and Washington.

Jackson will reportedly host in-house visits with ASU’s Todd Graham and Washington’s Chris Petersen before making a decision. He’s already met with USC.

While the Sun Devils will return four starters along the offensive line — and several others who hold in-game experience — Jackson’s addition would be welcomed. He is listed by some sites as a tackle, but has been spotted working at guard during Army Bowl practices this week.

Here’s highlights of Jackson.

Odua Isibor

The Sun Devils will have to fend off Texas A&M, UCLA and Yale, among others, for Isibor, an in-state target out of Phoenix St. Mary’s High School.

Isibor isn’t as highly touted as the other players ASU is invested in, but could end up being a valuable addition to the Sun Devils defense as an edge rusher.

According to Scout, his decision will come after a visit to UCLA around mid-January. Below are highlights of Isibor from his senior year.

KJ Jarrell

ASU is very much alive with Jarrell, one of the top defensive back prospects in the state.

The Saguaro High School defender has three visits scheduled this month: Jan. 13 with USC; Jan. 20 with ASU; Jan. 27 with Cal. He’s expected to make his final decision after his scheduled trips.

Sun Devil fans can only hope to land Jarrell, who could one day be a difference maker in the secondary. Proof of his potential came earlier in the week, when he made an impact play during Army Bowl practice by intercepting Michigan quarterback commit Dylan McCaffrey.

Here’s highlights of Jarrell from his senior season:

Bubba Bolden

A late add to the watch list, ASU was believed to be trailing both USC and Ohio State for Bolden, who’s one of the top defensive back prospects out of the 2017 class.

The Bishop Gorman (Nev.) product was pictured even forming an ‘O’ with his arms at a practice earlier this week — presumably to represent Ohio State — with fellow ASU target Eno Benjamin next to him forming a Hook ‘Em sign with his hands, too. (It’s believed it’s come down to Texas and ASU for Benjamin.)

Even the reporter who took the picture captioned it with “(Bolden) will choose between USC and Ohio State”.

It seemed ASU was the longshot, that is until Friday night, when Bolden’s mother, Breezy, took to Twitter to wish family friend and high school teammate Alex Perry, who is an ASU commit, happy birthday.

In the tweet, she tells Perry to “watch where (Bolden) commits”, attaching “#ForksUp”, “#CBA”, and “#brothers” to the mention. (For what it’s worth, Breezy responded to later tweets about both USC and Ohio State, but then after retweeted two ASU-related posts, and continued to engage with fans from all three schools following that.)

To say the least, it set Sun Devil recruiting networks ablaze on social media, within their respective circles.

Suddenly, ASU has a significant chance to land two high-end prospects (Benjamin, Bolden) on the same day, which would be quite the turnaround considering the Sun Devils made little noise on the recruiting front in-season.

Bolden has since confirmed he’ll be making his decision during the game.

Make sure to tune in to the contest and to House of Sparky to see where these coveted players end up.

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