The snap got here too early for Elijah Haven.
Haven, within the midst of an important play of the season for Dunham School in Louisiana, managed to catch the ball because it hit his chest and sprinted proper.
Then a defender received in his face. Haven waited till the final doable second, with a defender hanging on his legs, and delivered the ball precisely the place it ought to go — low and in a spot solely his receiver may catch it.
The throw put Dunham up 49-48. It was the deciding rating in an upset over No. 1 Lafayette Christian within the semifinals of the Louisiana Division III choose playoffs.
“I think that play encapsulates everything he’s about,” Weiner mentioned.
Weiner trusted Haven’s decision-making sufficient to go for two in a essential second.
Just a few months later, Haven is about to make his personal main choice between two choices.
The No. 2 general participant and No. 1 quarterback within the 2027 247Sports rankings will select between Alabama and Georgia on April 25. The announcement shall be made amidst the NFL Draft, maybe an omen for the 2029 or 2030 draft class.
That’s the sort of ceiling Haven brings as a prospect.
He threw 62 touchdowns as a junior and accounted for a Louisiana state document 73 complete scores that season.
“Is that a lot?” Weiner jokes.
Haven has been so dominant that he already holds Louisiana’s profession complete landing document. Louisiana is the house of the Mannings, Terry Bradshaw, Brock Berlin and so many different high-profile highschool passers. Haven eclipsed all of them with a yr to go in his highschool profession.
Haven is what 247Sports Director of Scouting Andrew Ivins labeled a “super-sized individual.” He’s 6-foot-5, 225 kilos. That’s paired with a dunker’s athletic capability and the imaginative and prescient of somebody who performed guard on the basketball ground all his life, together with in high-level AAU competitors.
Mentally, Haven processes the sport shortly for a highschool passer. He does not panic when a two-point play goes awry. He sees the sphere nicely, too. LSU Director of Performance Innovation Jack Marucci – thought of to be one of school athletics’ leaders in sports activities science – put Haven via the identical processing take a look at LSU provides to all its quarterbacks. Haven scored at an elite degree.
“He’s got all those things,” Weiner mentioned.
What’s maybe most intriguing about Haven is what may come subsequent.
Despite the manufacturing, Ivins mentioned Haven is not as polished as another high 2027 quarterbacks. When Haven confirmed up on the Elite 11 New Orleans regional on March 21, he instructed Ivins that he’d solely thrown just one or two occasions since Durham’s season resulted in mid-December. The motive why – basketball.
Unlike rather a lot of his friends who do weekly quarterback coaching and 7-on-7, Haven largely checks out of soccer till basketball season ends.
That annual yo-yo between two sports activities will finish subsequent winter. Weiner mentioned Haven won’t play basketball as a highschool senior, as an alternative enrolling early at his college of selection. Haven could also be a bit behind some of his friends in reps or mechanics. But his all-around athletic improvement, Weiner mentioned, makes Haven such an intriguing prospect.
“I think that shows how high his ceiling can be that he hasn’t maxed out yet,” Weiner mentioned. “There’s a lot of great quarterbacks right now across the country, I don’t know how much better than can get because they’ve dedicated all of their waking moments to this. And I think Elijah’s got bigger and better things beyond.”
The Decision
Coaching motion can have an outsized affect on a recruit’s path, and Haven is a superb instance.
He grew up 10 minutes from LSU’s campus, however the Tigers’ teaching motion final cycle largely pushed the Tigers out of the dialog. Florida and Penn State had been in scorching pursuit, too, however the coach adjustments at these faculties largely took them out of the dialog.
The two mainstays for Haven for the reason that fall have been Alabama and Georgia.
Alabama has recruited highschool quarterbacks in addition to anybody the previous few cycles. The Tide signed five-star Keelon Russell within the 2025 class. They adopted that up with Jett Thomalla (No. 4 in 2026) and Tayden-Evan Kaawa within the 2026 cycle. Four-star Trent Seaborn is already dedicated in 2027. Haven would one more chip in Alabama’s warfare chest at QB.
Georgia, for its half, is wanting for its first highschool signee at QB since 2025. The Bulldogs want somebody to bridge the hole ahead of the 2028 class once they have already got No. 1 general participant Jayden Wade dedicated on the place.
It’s an old-school SEC battle for the No. 1 passer.
Just a few days ahead of the choice, 247Sports nationwide analyst Tom Loy mentioned Alabama had the sting.
“I feel good about Alabama heading into the final week of his recruitment,” Tom Loy mentioned earlier this week. “Georgia has made a point to turn up the heat the last week to show him how much he’s needed – not just wanted – in Athens. They’re making it a close race. But come Saturday I do expect him to pick the Crimson Tide.”
However, as choice day creeps nearer, it looks like the Bulldogs are making a push. 247Sports had an excellent breakdown on Haven’s process heading into the final 24 hours, and Loy reported this Friday afternoon.
“In talking with sources in Athens, Georgia, there is a strong belief that the Bulldogs are very much being slept on in this recruitment,” Loy reported. “Now, I’m not trying to get Bulldogs’ fans’ hopes up here, but I do believe that Georgia and coach Kirby Smart are far more on this battle down the stretch than most notice.
