In the first year the event was in Naples, participants at the FBU Top Gun Showcase discovered one of the hardest parts about playing football in Southwest Florida – the weather.
Lightning delays caused the nationwide talent showcase to play well into the evening Sunday, the final day of camp, using the lights at the brand new Paradise Coast Sports Complex in East Naples.
Despite the five-hour delay, FBU officials were able to award Top Gun’s most coveted prizes – invitations to its freshman All-American game and the All-American Bowl for seniors.
Naples High School incoming freshman Ebenezer Bouzi, a cornerback, was one of 10 rising ninth-graders to receive invites to the FBU All-American Bowl. The game, played in Naples the past four years during the FBU National Championships for middle school teams, includes the top 70 freshmen in the country.
“I knew what I wanted to do,” Bouzi said about participating in this year’s Top Gun. “I’ve been working hard and preparing myself. I knew what I wanted to happen. I had to make sure I was prepared.”
Bouzi actually received his official invite to the FBU All-American Bowl this winter after his play with the Golden Gate Titans and the local FBU eighth-grade all-star team. Though he had nothing to prove, he didn’t take it easy at Top Gun. He wanted to show he deserved his All-American status.
At this weekend’s three-day showcase, Bouzi was named best defensive back at Top Gun in the Class of 2024.
“I went even harder,” Bouzi said. “I did even better than I have before (at FBU camps).”
Top Gun also picked three players for the All-American Bowl, a nationally-televised senior all-star game in San Antonio, Texas, in January. Amari Daniels and Yulkeith Brown from Miami-Central, and Armon Bethea from Erasmus Hall (N.Y.) were picked for the elite game which airs live on NBC.
FBU coaches selected an All-Top Gun team for each position in every graduation class. Several local players earned honors.
Among them: Community School defensive lineman Jacob Allen (Class of 2021), Lehigh linebacker Dequaveon Fuller (2021), Palmetto Ridge receiver Kamonte Grimes (2021), Naples quarterback Dominq Ponder (2022) and Barron Collier quarterback Dylan McNamara (2022) each made an All-Top Gun team.
In the middle school awards, Josh Philogene, a rising freshman at Golden Gate High School, was named an All-Top Gun running back in the Class of 2024. Naples resident Niko Boyce made All-Top Gun at quarterback in the Class of 2025.
Sunday’s awards wrapped up Top Gun, the culmination of a series of nationwide youth football camps hosted by Football University (FBU). The company invites the top players from each regional camp to Top Gun each summer.
More: Nearly a thousand youth football stars flock to Naples for FBU Top Gun Showcase
More: Top Gun brings elite football players, marks debut of sports complex
Normally more than 1,500 players attend. This year about 800 participants – from sixth-graders to high school seniors – came to Naples, much fewer because FBU had to cancel most of its regional camps due to the coronavirus.
“We couldn’t ask for a better two-and-three-quarters days,” FBU president Steve Quinn said, referencing the lightning delay at the end of Day 3. “That’s just Florida weather.”
Top Gun was the first event at the new county-owned Paradise Coast Sports Complex. The action took place on the four synthetic turf fields that were ready. Eventually the complex will have 20 fields and a 5,000-seat stadium.
“It was a great first event,” Quinn said. “The complex is everything we thought it would be. We can’t thank the county enough for allowing this to happen, and the (Convention and Visitors Bureau) for allowing this to happen. This is just the start of things to come.”
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July 13, 2020 at 08:59AM
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Naples's Bouzi named All-American at FBU Top Gun Showcase, others earn All-Top Gun honors - Naples Daily News
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