SPORTS

Star players dot the map in NE Louisiana this season

Cody Futrell
cfutrell@thenewsstar.com

High school football hotbeds such as northeastern Louisiana have cycles where the number of major Division I recruits moves up and down. One year is a large class of top talent and some years is bleak.

The 2015 season has a plethora of top-level talent in the region. Several players in the Class of 2016 are expected to sign with a Top 25 college program.

It is not difficult to go to a game, under the Friday night lights, and spot one of these top recruits. They pass the “eye test” easily.

It is all the work Monday through Thursday. The after practice drills and sprints that usually set these players a part. It is the unseen sweat, blood and tears put forth by these players that the everyday fan does not see yet makes all the difference.

“I think anyone can watch a game and recognize size and speed,” Neville coach Mickey McCarty said. “That is just a small part of it however. To be a major recruit you have to get to know the player. Character has to be in the right place. Are you a good teammate?”

McCarty has another of those top recruits in defensive lineman Rashard Lawarence. Lawrence is the top rated prospect in the state this season by many recruiting services. He is getting a lot of interest from UCLA, LSU, Alabama, Ohio State and Washington among others.

Lawrence looks at his status as a top player at a championship caliber program such as Neville as a privilege. Yet, he is not driven by the great players who came before him or the mystic of Bill Ruple Stadium.

“I am driven by winning state championships,” Lawrence said. “I think every player wants to be remembered as a champion.”

Hard work in the weight room gets many players ready physically during the grueling summer months, but it is the physiological part of the game that can also separate elite players from the pack.

“I work at putting more mental effort into it,” Ouachita offensive lineman Kennedy Madison said. “Guys are always asking you questions (as a top recruit). Your team looks up to you.”

Madison and teammate Zach Hannibal are committed to Louisiana Tech.

The elite players put a lot of extra physical workouts into the equation as well.

“I like to do extra work with the wide receivers and cone drills,” Wossman quarterback Cam Lewis said. “I just want to keep working hard every day and do the things I do even better.”

Lewis is committed to LSU.

“I just go out a play every game like it is my last,” Bastrop wide receiver Isaiah Graham said. “I go work on my routes and work with (Bastrop offensive coordinator) Adrian Burnette. Just working on the small things.”

While the digital age has made access to recruiting ratings and information a lot easier in recent years, the players don’t seem to be concerning themselves with their own ratings.

“If you shine then people will find you,” West Monroe quarterback Jon Randall Belton said.

Belton is being recruited by UCLA, Mississippi State, Arizona State, Utah and Texas Christian among others.

The digital age has also given rise to social media and the dangers that the medium brings to recruits – giving teens the ability to express themselves 24 hours, seven days per week.

“That is the thing that has changed the most in my time as a head coach is to see how that has progressed,” McCarty said of the rise of social media. “The kids have to be made aware of it and it is something that coaches look at now as far as character and those things posted to social media. You are building a resume for yourself when you do that type of thing (post to social media).”

Connect with Cody on Twitter @cfutrellTNS or via e-mail cfutrell@thenewsstar.com