Sac State Rising Stars football camp offers prospects a chance to be seen
The idea is two-fold.
For the football coaches that run drills at a “Mega Camp,” it is to evaluate high school — incoming freshmen, sophomores and juniors— and junior college prospects.
For the players who hail from across the country to any number of such camps dotted across the land, the aim is to be spotted and noted, to land on the radar in this relentlessly competitive game of recruiting.
Sacramento State’s annual Rising Stars was a two-day whirlwind marathon of drills and activity that played out on several grass fields near Hornet Stadium, and it was deemed a rousing success, from the weather to the effort to the kudos.
Nearly 2,000 athletes were put through competitive skill sessions, instructed by Sac State coaches with an assist from an army of coaches from across the national football landscape, including those from Arizona, Arizona State, Boise State, BYU, Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UNLV and beyond, including small colleges such as Western Washington.
Only about 2% of high school football players land full athletic scholarships, making America’s favorite sport a difficult ticket to secure for a player. Add in the transfer-portal impact, in which colleges can retool and restock without even signing prep prospects — and landing a full ride has never been more of a daunting task.
But these camps help coaches who get to see a sea of prospects at one setting, and it helps the student-athlete eager to show what he’s all about.
Linemen were studied to see how large, wide and mobile they are — their footwork, their agility and hand placement all noted or dismissed when they squared off against another body. Defensive backs worked on back-pedaling and reaction. Quarterbacks were closely watched to see how they drop back, scan the field on progressions reads, and how they throw the ball, from mechanics to arm strength.
Some prospects this week received verbal offers for a full athletic scholarship. But a verbal is just a start. Scholarships do not become a binding deal until they are signed on national letter of intent day.
“Really just want to be seen,” said Landen Parry, a Sacramento Bee All-Metro tight end/linebacker from powerhouse Del Oro High School in Placer County. “I want to show my love of the game, the passion, and my why in why I do this, which is to play for me and my family and my school.”
Parry looks the part of prospect. He is a good student, engaging and polite, with a sturdy and strong build at 6-foot-2 and 245 pounds. His biceps make one wonder if he really needs to ever go with long sleeves. He is fast for his size and bulk, and he is mobile with good hands. He craves contact and competition.
“I have a lot to offer — a team guy, always giving 100%, versatile and coachable,” Parry said.
Sac State impact
Jon Osterhout looked like a man back in his element.
He is the former Sac State All-American lineman, Hornets assistant coach and longtime American River College head coach who is now in his first months working as Sac State football’s chief of staff and assistant athletic director. On Tuesday and Wednesday, decked in Hornets green and with a whistle, Osterhout put scores of players through agility drills. He held a captive audience. No one dogged it.
“We want to provide skill instruction for people from across the region, California and the country,” Osterhout said. “And we had great weather. Feels like San Diego. Great way to show off what we have here.”
He added, “the landscape of college football now, these camps can be big.”
Osterhout said evaluating prospects does not require shoulder pads, helmets or full smash-mouth competition.
“We’re able to see what a prospect look like in a competitive environment, being able to see how they bend athletically, how they move, and then just their body language, demeanor and how they conduct themselves, and when they get beat in a competition, period, how do they respond?” Osterhout said. “There’s a lot of evaluation that takes place from the moment a prospect steps onto our facility for registration all the way out here to the field.”
Alonzo Carter attended every Sac State Rising Stars camp since its inception in 2017 under then-Hornets coach Jody Sears. Under Troy Taylor, the camp grew to a mega status, and it continued under former Hornets coaches Andy Thompson and Brennan Marion.
Now in his first season as Sac State’s coach, Carter was a clear presence at the camp. He tooled around in a golf cart, with a bullhorn, though one coach on site said Carter’s booming voice doesn’t need a boost, noting that the coach could be heard in a nearby parking garage, “Stop holding!”
“The idea of this camp is to offer instruction from college coaches, from Power 5 schools to the smallest level of NAIA,” Carter said. “This is traditionally one of the top, if not they top, camp on the West Coast and the entire western region. We’re going to keep that tradition going. It’s a good thing for everybody.”
Prospects from Sacramento, Texas, Florida
The Rising Stars camp was heavy on California and Sacramento players but also included those from Texas, Arizona, Nevada and Florida. Players were not housed. They paid their own way, which offer a glimpse of how they are willing to do anything it takes to be seen and evaluated.
Jerry Davis, a 6-3, 235-pound edge rusher from a Texas high school with scholarship offers from across the country, said he came to this event to size himself up against the competition. And, he said, California alone was worth the visit.
“Great camp,” he said excitedly. “Learned a lot. These things are really cool and important.”
Said Carter, “It’s all about development, instruction, teaching, and we look at a lot of younger players, the babies, the ninth graders, and the older guys like the JC guys, because it gives them hope.”
Carter said teenagers grow in body and mind, and to get an early start on evaluation allows coaches to build a database of prospects. The prospects who didn’t know about Sac State certainly do now after two days of drills.
“I’m a former junior varsity high school football coach, a former Pop Warner youth football coach and dad, and we see development of players, and it’s all about process over outcome,” Carter said. “How do you get to that outcome? We start talking about that here in these camps.”
This story was originally published June 11, 2026 at 11:54 AM.