Collins makes it official, signs with Alabama
e_SDLqI wasn’t trying to play any mind tricks or any head games. I just wanted the process to be over.” Landon Collins, Dutchtown football standout
GEISMAR — Anyone wondering if Landon Collins might have a last-minute change of heart Wednesday got the answer about a half-hour before the five-star safety sat down to sign his national letter of intent. Collins walked through the doors of the Dutchtown gym wearing a gray “Roll Tide” sweatshirt, a sure sign he would stick by the commitment he made to Alabama four weeks earlier.
“I wasn’t trying to play any mind tricks or any head games,” Collins said after signing. “I just wanted the process to be over.”
The uneventful closing act of the Dutchtown standout’s recruitment had little in common with everything that came before.
A two-horse race featuring hometown LSU and rival Alabama culminated when Collins, the state of Louisiana’s top college prospect, let out a “Roll Tide” in announcing his
commitment Jan. 5 at the nationally televised Under Armour All-American Game, played only four days before LSU and Alabama met in the BCS National Championship Game.
Such decisions generally inspire hugs and laughter, but Collins’ mother, April Justin, made it known she was not happy with her son’s choice.
“I feel LSU is a better place for him to be,” she told ESPN’s Dari Nowkhah on live TV. Holding up her index finger, she added, “LSU Tigers No. 1.”
Justin wore neutral colors to Wednesday’s signing ceremony.
Seated with her son in the bleachers of the Dutchtown gym, she wiped tears from her face as Collins waited to sign. She tried one last time to change his mind.
In the end, Collins told her Alabama felt like home.
“He said he’s going to go up there and shine
like the diamond he is,” Justin said. “That’s what we pinky-sweared. He said Tuscaloosa is where he’s going to shine.”
Few in the recruiting world doubt Collins has what it takes to shine anywhere.
ESPN lists Collins as the nation’s No. 6 prospect, 24/7Sports has him at No. 3 and Scout ranks him sixth. Rivals lists Collins at No. 17 nationally.
Collins starred for Dutchtown on both sides of the ball, becoming the first Louisiana player to earn 5A all-state recognition on offense and defense. But his future is in the secondary.
Collins hopes Alabama coach Nick Saban can help get
him ready for a career in the NFL. He told his mom he wants
to become the rare defensive back to win a Heisman Trophy.
“He earned what he got,” Dutchtown coach Benny Saia said. “He’s a five-star recruit. He won every award you could think of winning. He was signed by the No. 1 team in the country and was recruited by the No. 2 team in the country. It doesn’t get much better than that.”
The most high-profile recruit from the area isn’t the only one headed out of state to play college football.
Episcopal defensive end Tylor Harris signed with Wake Forest on Wednesday, while White Castle running back Tyre Bracken signed with Southern Miss.
Harris is the first Episcopal prospect to sign with a BCS school since Jimmy Williams went to Vanderbilt in 1997. Running back Jared Rogers signed with Army last year.
Harris, recovering from a knee injury suffered in Episcopal’s quarterfinal loss, finished his senior season with 69 tackles. He is a two-time Class 2A all-state and All-Metro performer.
Bracken follows former White Castle star Ronald Martin, who signed with LSU last year.
Bracken rushed for 1,888 yards and 21 touchdowns as a senior, making the all-state team for a second straight season. He helped lead the Bulldogs to the state title as a junior, rushing for 3,108 yards (including five playoff games) and 39 touchdowns.
Bracken is the younger brother of Tim Bracken, a
former Michigan running back.
Three area players signed with North Texas: East Ascension running back Jamarcus Jarvis, Woodlawn defensive back Devante Davis and
Livonia running back Mark Lewis.
Jarvis rushed for 858 yards and 10 scores during the 2011 regular season, helping lead East Ascension to its first playoff berth since 2006. Davis earned first-team All-District 5-5A honors and won an MVP award for his play in the U.S. Army Red Stick Bowl. Lewis, the MVP of 5-3A, earned all-state recognition after rushing for 1,952 yards and 33 touchdowns.
Parkview Baptist defensive lineman Tom Bove signed with Wofford after earning The Advocate’s Classes 1A-2A-3A defensive MVP award for the second year in a row. As a senior, Bove had 85 tackles, including 10 sacks and an interception.
Two more area players signed with Arkansas-Monticello: Glen Oaks offensive lineman Trey Tolliver and Catholic offensive lineman Raphael Mozie.
Tolliver earned All-6-3A honors for Glen Oaks as a senior offensive tackle. Mozie played three positions for Catholic on the offensive line, but projects as a center.
Metcalfe and Tolliver each had teammates sign with out-of-state schools.
Central fullback John Davis is headed for Robert Morris. Glen Oaks running back Johnta Hebert plans to continue his career at Prairie View.
McKinley had three players sign with out-of-state schools: wide receiver Cody Swain with Arkansas-Pine Bluff, offensive tackle Garrick Mayweather with Fordham and defensive tackle Khwyen Marshall with Evangel College.
Swain and Mayweather both played in the Red Stick Bowl.
Donaldsonville has three players, running back Tre Brown and linebacker Courtland Joshua and defensive back Cortez Mitchell, who signed to play for Chadron State College in Nebraska.
Linebacker Lucas Shipman, Collins’ Dutchown teammate, signed with Delta State in Mississippi.
Former Dutchtown running back Kelvin York, who played the past two seasons at Fullerton College in California, enrolled at Utah last month as a member of the Utes’ latest signing class. York missed most of last year with a knee injury after being named the Southern Conference offensive player of the year as a Fullerton freshman.
His senior year at Dutchtown, York rushed for more than 1,400 yards while sharing time with Eddie Lacy, who is entering his junior season at Alabama.
Southern Lab running back Maurice Aucoin signed Wednesday with the same Fullerton College where York made his mark.
Two other Southern Lab players, offensive guard Chris Bowman and defensive back Chas Patterson, signed with Mississippi College.