By STAN CALDWELL/Sports Writer

HATTIESBURG — The University of Southern Mississippi, in particular M.M. Roberts Stadium, was the place to be Saturday evening for more than 70 high school and junior college quarterbacks from the Gulf South.

The third annual 601 Elite Quarterback Camp brought together many of the top QB college prospects in Mississippi, including several from the Gulf Coast, as well as some from Louisiana, Alabama and Tennessee.

To the surprise of no one, George County rising senior Deuce Knight capped a busy week by winning overall Most Valuable Player honors among the players who participated.

“It was a smooth day,” said Knight, who passed for 1,420 yards and 15 touchdowns in seven games for the Rebels last season. “I got a lot of good work in, had some good throws. Coach Wyatt gives us real-game drills that can translate to the game.”

Coach Wyatt is former Pearl River Central quarterback Wyatt Davis, who started 601 Elite in 2018 as a private quarterback training program after playing at East Mississippi Community College and Pearl River CC.

“I played for Coach (Eric) Collins and Coach (Larry) Dolan at Pearl River Central, and learned from two of the best,” said Davis. “They both had a lot of knowledge to give back to me that I can carry on to these guys out here.”

The camp took place at the end of the dead week for recruiting, so no college coaches were allowed, but scouts from recruiting websites such as Rivals and 247Sports were on hand watching players as old as 20 and as young as rising freshmen in high school.

Also there were coaches, some high school, on hand to help operate the camp and evaluate the players throughout the two hour-plus event.

“I’m just here helping out with the other coaches,” said Gulfport head coach Blake Pennock. “I think this is awesome. It’s an opportunity for them to compete and see where they stack up with this collection of talent all in one spot.

“I think it’s a cool experience for a lot these boys.”

More than 75 players showed on the turf at The Rock, and they were put through their paces with throws in all types of situations and to all parts of the field.

Saturday’s workout was set up in two parts, with players going through a series of passing drills, followed by competition for awards in three categories: the Long Toss, the Comeback Challenge and Overall Accuracy throughout both drills and competition.

“I’m just looking forward to working with some of the top guys in Mississippi,” said Pascagoula senior-to-be Silas Corder. “To me, it’s exciting to come over here every year throw the ball around and compete with these guys.”

Corder, who led the Panthers to an 8-4 record and the second round of the Class 6A playoffs last season, is looking at Southern Miss and Akron, and he has a standing offer from Mississippi Valley State.

“We’re expecting a good season,” said Corder. “We’ve got a lot of guys back from last year, we just hope to build on that.

“It would be pretty cool (to go to MVSU) to go where Willie Totten and Jerry Rice played. A lot of history there, and the (Southwestern Athletic Conference) is a fun league.”

Also participating from the Gulf Coast was former St. Stanislaus quarterback Ian Gonzales, who is hoping to win a position at PRCC, after guiding the Rockachaws to a 9-2 season in 2023.

“I’m excited to be here; this is my first time here,” said Gonzales, a native of Mexico City. “To be able to come on the field here at Southern Miss is a real experience. I’m just glad to be here.”

He’ll have stiff competition, however, from former Oak Grove standout Kabe Barnett, who has transferred to Pearl River after sitting out 2023 following his freshman season at Northwest Mississippi CC. 

Barnett was named the top JuCo player at the camp and also took home a trophy for Overall Accuracy.

But the star of the show was Knight, who arrived fashionably late and proceeded to wow those in attendance with his arm and overall athleticism.

Knight had the two longest throws in the Long Toss competition, officially recording a 68-yard throw to win the event, then uncorked a 74-yard bomb just for fun.

“That was a pretty good throw,” Knight said, understating the obvious.

Knight announced last season that he was committed to Notre Dame, however, there is a long time until Signing Day, and Ole Miss is still in the picture for the 6-foot-5, 190-pounder.

“I’m just talking to Notre Dame and Ole Miss right now,” said Knight. “I’ve built a good relationship with the coaches (at Notre Dame) and the team. It’s a top-notch school for football, but also a good school academically.”

For Davis, who graduated from PRC in 2017, this is a labor of love. Even before he was finished with the Blue Devils, he was working with quarterbacks and he has built a thriving business out of guiding young quarterbacks.

“I wanted to do something for the state, to give back to this place,” said Davis. “This is something we never had when I was coming up, and I felt like it was an opportunity to develop a training network, but also to help recruiting.

“I really wanted to do something to showcase Mississippi talent.”

Although Davis’ focus is on the Magnolia State, he also works with players from neighboring states, and his rapport with the players brought a number of out-of-state players to Hattiesburg.

“I’ve been in a relationship with Wyatt Davis for a couple of years now,” said Sammy Dunn of Mobile, Ala., who will be a junior at Vigor High this fall. “He’s a great guy, and he invited me to this camp. I’m in the area not too far away, so I decided to come out and show my talents.

“I just want to get better, throwing the ball to some really good receivers, with a lot of good quarterbacks, and just take all of the advice these coaches can give me.”

Indeed, several out-of-state players earned trophies for their efforts, including Caleb Gonzales of Zachary, La., who won the Comeback Challenge, and Emile Picarella from University Lab (La.), who was named the top player from the Class of 2025.

Other players who earned awards were Eric Perry of DeSoto Central, who was the Class 0f 2026 winner, Brandon’s Slade Shack, who was the Class of ’27 winner, Jackson Teague of Copiah Academy for 2028, and Garrison Davis of Holmes County, who won the Underdog Award for the best showing among players not being highly-recruited.

Although an undertaking of this size requires a lot of background work and pre-camp preparation with USM, but the level of participation among players, coaches and fans, of which there was a good number, strongly suggests that the 601 Elite Camp will be back in 2025.

“You have to go through the administration of the athletic department,” said Davis. “You have to rent the field, but they allow us to use the stadium, because it’s also good advertising for the university. There’s really no better place to do it than right here in Hattiesburg.”