Camp Notebook: Olver 'loved it,' quality quarterbacks in attendance

Colorado's coaches were busy hosting youth camps and guest coaching at satellite camps through the first week-and-a-half of June. And on Saturday, on the old practice fields, 207 high school football players showcased their skills in front of the Buffaloes' staff.

Unfortunately, shortly after one-on-one drills began, lightning in the area cut the camp short. There was still enough time for a handful of players to make an impression.

Sebastian Olver was the one camp participant that already holds an offer from the Buffaloes. The 6-foot-3.5, 240-pound two-way standout from Kentfield (Calif.) Marin Catholic visited Colorado in April, but on his second visit, he had a different mindset.

"I went in with an offer this time, knowing I have an opportunity to go there. So I actually went in thinking, 'What if I went here?' I had my eyes open," Olver said. "It was just amazing. I loved it. The campus is amazing, the coaching staff is real great. I went in early, had a tour around the school, and everything about the school is amazing."

A standout rugby player growing up in Australia, Olver came to the United States last year to try his hand at football, a risk that has paid off in the form of nine offers. Olver's dad has flown in from Australia this summer to check out some of his son's options.

"My dad got along with all the coaches at Colorado. They looked after him. He also really loved it. He loved it all, really," Sebastian said. "My dad loved the academics at Colorado. I am looking to go into Business in college, and Colorado obviously has a great Business school. He loved the town, especially Pearl Street. Pearl Street was really cool."

Olver was also accompanied on his trip to Boulder by his teammate and good friend Chantz Russell, a 6-foot-5, 265-pound offensive tackle prospect. Russell has picked up four offers so far, from Montana State, Sacramento State, Wyoming and Idaho.

Olver would ideally like to play with Russell in college.

"I want to be with my mate," he said. "He is a very under-rated player right now. He is a little underweight right now because he lost a bunch of weight but he can easily become 295. He is a tough bastard. He plays with heart. He is not afraid of anything. That kid will run into a freight train if you asked him to. I don't know too much about the sport, but from my point of view, he is big time. He is weirdly flexible and he is still growing. He is probably going to get to 6-foot-7 before he goes off to college."

Olver could end up playing as a defensive lineman or as a tight end at the next level. He decided to work strictly with the tight ends group during Colorado's camp on Saturday.

"[Buffs tight ends and fullbacks] coach [Gary] Bernardi seems to know what he is talking about," he said. "I learned ways to improve my stance, hip movement, all that."

Olver also camped at Arizona in early June, and he will be going out to Purdue and Indiana this coming week. Iowa State is one of the other schools recruiting him hard.

"Right now I am planning on probably committing around my preseason games, just after summer," Olver said. "But it also depends on what offers Chantz gets. We'll kind of see how things turn out this summer. We could decide to commit earlier than that."

Curtis Chiaverini no longer has to wonder when he will receive his first offer. The son of Colorado co-offensive coordinator and receivers coach Darrin Chiaverini, Curtis impressed CSU-Pueblo's staff, which is led by former Buffs assistant John Wristen.

"I did get an offer from CSU-Pueblo," confirmed Curtis, a 6-foot-0.5, 185-pound wide receiver from Highlands Ranch (Colo.) Valor Christian. "It feels amazing. Just to know all the hard work is starting to pay off, it feels great. They told me they really like that I am a blue-collar type of worker. I roll up my sleeves and go out there and do my job."

Chiaverini hauled in roughly 35 passes for 500 yards during his junior season at Cooper High School in Lubbock before moving to Colorado with his family in early January. San Diego State, Northern Colorado and Montana are other schools evaluating him.

"I am going to keep things open. I don't want to commit too early and just jump into something early on," he said. "I want to wait and see what's the best opportunity."

This fall, Chiaverini will be catching passes from Dylan McCaffrey, one of the nation's top ranked quarterback prospects from the Class of 2017. Chiaverini has said his goal is for them to be the top quarterback-receiver duo in their conference this season.

"I don't want my dad to have to talk to other coaches about me and be like, 'Hey, look at this guy,' just because I am his son. I want them to come to a Valor Christian game and see me balling out. That is what I want," he said. "If somebody came to watch me play, I think they would be impressed with how well I run my routes. I am deceptively pretty fast so I have off the ball quickness. I also have really good hands and good ball vision."

Jarret Doege threw for Buffs co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Brian Lindgren in the spring, and he accepted an invitation to attend Colorado's camp.

"They wanted me to throw in front of [Colorado head] coach [Mike] Mac[Intyre] so I came up here and I thought I did pretty well," Doege said. "I am pretty upset the camp ended early because of lightning but I thought I spun it pretty well today."

"It is beautiful up here and I really like it," he added. "I think it is going to be a process before they offer me because they have been telling me to stay patient, but I think they are going to end up taking two quarterbacks so I will wait for them to decide."

Doege is currently verbally committed to Bowling Green, where his older brother Seth Doege, a former Texas Tech quarterback, is now an offensive graduate assistant.

"I am keeping an open ear to other schools," Jarret admitted. "I committed to Bowling Green because I really have a good relationship with their coaches. I feel really good with Bowling Green but I really just committed there early on so I could keep my spot there."

As a junior, Doege threw for more than 2,000 yards, and he had 30 total touchdowns.

"My arm is definitely my best attribute as a quarterback," he said. "I can run but I am not like a true dual-threat quarterback. I am a consistent thrower, though."

With his tall 6-foot-4, 190-pound frame, William Brown Jr. was easy to pick out in the quarterbacks group. The Class of 2018 recruit already has an offer from Alabama State.

"Coach Lindgren has known my head coach and my quarterbacks coach (at Lamar Consolidated in Rosenberg, Texas) for a while and he came to see me play at school this spring. He invited me to this camp so my family and I came up here," he explained. "I think it went well. I think if the day carried on, I probably would have been the best quarterback out here. I will continue to practice hard and keep grinding."

Oklahoma and Houston are some other colleges that have expressed early interest in Brown. And after leaving Boulder on Saturday, he headed to Washington for a camp.

"My plan is just to perform and show these colleges I can play quarterback at the next level," said Brown, who threw for 1,526 yards with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions during his junior campaign. "I am good at reading in the pocket; being aware and deciphering the defense to make good throws downfield."

According to Brown, he got positive feedback from Lindgren following Saturday's camp.

"He said he is going to highly recruit me," Brown said. "It is going to be a long process, but Colorado is definitely a possibility. Right before camp, my dad and I got a tour around the campus from Coach Lindgren. It was great, especially the facilities. Colorado has a very beautiful campus so I really enjoyed getting a chance to come up here."

*** Despite standing just 5-foot-6, 145-pounds, Englewood (Colo.) Cherry Creek receiver Marcus Miller performed as well as any player at the camp. His route running, hands and quick burst helped him overcome his lack of size. Miller is a Class of 2019 recruit, so he just finished up his freshman year. He is one to watch going forward.

*** At 6-foot-5.5, 300-pounds, Highlands Ranch (Colo.) High senior-to-be Cal Neubert stood out physically among the offensive linemen. He likely projects as an FCS recruit.

*** Mullen receiver A'Jon Vivens is coming off an impressive sophomore year, in which he finished in the top five in the Jeffco League in receiving yards and helped the Mustangs' 4x1-relay team to the state meet. On Saturday, Viven shows some of his athleticism but was not as consistent as some of the other receivers in attendance.

*** The Buffaloes invited coaches from every other Colorado program, except for Colorado State, to check out Saturday's camp. Coaches from Northern Colorado, Adams State, Colorado Mines, CSU-Pueblo, Fort Lewis and Colorado Mesa were in attendance.