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Shea Patterson wins Elite 11 MVP and The Opening championship

The future Ole Miss quarterback looked hella impressive while leading his team to a title in the country's premier high school 7-on-7 tournament.

By Jeff Gray
Student Sports

Let's be honest, there's only so much you can read into a 7-on-7 tourney -- running around without shoulder pads against a bunch of other high schoolers isn't exactly the best indicator of how a guy will fare in college football. But still, the fact that five-star Ole Miss quarterback commit Shea Patterson won Nike's The Opening championship and grabbed the Elite 11 MVP is pretty neat.

Patterson and his Team Lunarbeast buddies (including fellow Rebel pledge D.K. Metcalf) overcame an 0-3 start and some hideously florescent uniforms to win the tournament championship on Friday night in Eugene, Ore. Patterson, who started the day ranked No. 6 among the 18 quarterback prospects on hand, was named MVP of the Elite 11 (a simultaneous quarterback competition that's wrapped into The Opening tourney).

(Wondering what the hell is The Opening and Elite 11 are? SB Nation Recruiting has all the answers to your questions.)

I'll spare you the stats and just say that the assembled media were raving about Patterson, including SB Nation's crootin guru and friend of the Cup, Bud Elliott.

Like I said, winning a 7-on-7 tournament isn't that significant in itself. Patterson's stock wouldn't have changed much -- if at all  -- had his team had gone 0-5.

But here's what it does do: bump up his street cred among his peers. With social media and the increasing popularity of elite skills camps fostering more and more interaction between blue chip prospects, croots crooting one another has become the name of the game. So while no college coach really gives a damn whether Patterson won a summer tournament, best believe there are other prospects saying "That's the dude who won The Opening. Yea, I wanna play with him."

By the way, you can catch a full replay of all of Friday's action at WatchESPN.

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