CAMDEN — By PATRIC FLANNIGAN
Sports editor
Camden Fairview senior student athlete Stacey Wilkins II was presented with his U.S. Army All-American Bowl jersey on Monday in front of his family, friends and teammates at C.F. High School.
The game will be played in San Antonio and will be aired on NBC at 1 p.m. on Jan. 5.
Wilkins is a two-sport athlete and a three-year letterman for the Cardinals. Earlier this year, he was announced to the Arkansas All State Football team where he and four of his teammates will play in the Arkansas Football All Star game in the summer.
He is verbally committed to continue his football career at the University of Oklahoma after garnering more than 25 offers from Division I schools.
According to allamericangames.com, the All-American Bowl was created in 2000 and is presented by American Family Insurance. The bowl has been recognized as the nation’s premier high school sporting event.
Historically, the event is attended by 40,000 spectators and viewed by nearly 5 million viewers. It serves as a platform for recognizing high school excellence through the bowl and the respective communities of each All-American.
The inaugural game was played in Dallas with the best of the best in the class of 2001. One year later the event moved to San Antonio, where the game has been played each year since.
The tradition of announcing a college commitment on live television started at the 2003 All-American Bowl, when five star recruits Reggie Bush and Chris Leak committed to USC and Florida, respectively.
The first group of All Americans to be drafted were selected in the 2004 NFL Draft, and by 2006 student athletes that had been selected for the bowl had won BCS National Championships, a Heisman Trophy, and earned Super Bowl rings. In fact, every year since the 2006 NFL season at least one All-American alumnus has played in a Super Bowl.