Deculus commits to LSU
Sometimes it’s not so difficult to just connect the dots. On Friday night after his spring football game, Austin Deculus made official what many had been expecting for some time, and announced his commitment to LSU.
Deculus is the Tigers’ eighth commitment and second offensive lineman in its 2017 class. Fellow Texas four-star lineman Edward Ingram committed to LSU on April 15.
“It’s just always been my dream since I was little,” Deculus said about playing for LSU. “The offense that they run suits me well; they just line up and smash you in the mouth every play.”
He admittedly prefers “...to always move forward, I don’t like moving backwards,” and Deculus expects that the Tigers coaches have him penciled-in to start working at tackle, but that he is willing to move anywhere along the offensive line to get on the field as quickly as possible.
That sort of enthusiasm should help him get an early opportunity, as LSU’s willingness to take the reigns off its young talent was an appealing consideration in his decision.
“Coach (Jeff) Grimes has a good persona and what I like about him is that he gives freshmen chances and doesn’t hold them back,” Deculus said. “If he has a guy that he thinks can be an All-American, he’ll give him a chance to shine.”
Deculus will be making his first public appearance as an LSU commit at the team’s Bayou Picnic on Saturday. He said he’s looking forward to spending time with the coaches following his announcement, but it will also give him a crack at helping the staff reel in a few other names on an impressive guest list.
“I think that I have already been having a pretty good effect on some of the people that I have been talking to,” he said, though he declined to name specific players. “I’ll just say that some good friends that I have made over this process and I have been doing a lot of talking.”
He also plans on doing some more recruiting next month at the Rivals Five-Star Challenge Presented by Under Armour, but is very focused on showing that his value extends beyond his calling card as workhorse in the run game.
“When I get to the Five-Star Challenge I just want to get that bump up to being a five-star recruit,” he said. “I have been working on my pass sets lately and I know that I am just so close to getting there. I love going to these camps and competing against other top guys because that’s where I thrive; against that level of competition.”
Further motivation for Deculus is giving his grandparents, who live only about an hour away from campus, the chance to come watch him play and for him to spend some time with them. However, he’ll be spending plenty more time with his new football family, and after getting a taste of the game day experience last season, he’s already pictured his first action in Tiger Stadium.
“When I went to the game against Texas A&M last year, the atmosphere sold me as much as anything else,” he said. “Right then I could see myself playing in Death Valley in front of all those people -- and the amount of support from all those people was awesome.”