Every young athlete fantasizes about playing collegiate and professional sports with his best friend.
For Breaux Bridge seniors Travin Dural and Lamar Louis, that dream is becoming a reality.
Dural and Louis both received offers from LSU two weeks ago and didn’t need much time to make a decision, committing to the Tigers days later on April 5.
Dural and Louis also said they plan to finish high school in December and transition to campus next spring.
“We always talked about both of us playing for LSU, and I guess we never really thought it would come to fruition,” said Louis, who is being recruited as an athlete. “When we got the opportunity to actually make it a reality, we jumped to it and we really wanted to do it.”
As Louisiana natives, the duo said it was an easy decision once the offer came.
“I’ve been an LSU fan all my life,” said Dural, a 6-foot-2-inch, 180-pound wide receiver. “We clowned about it, but never thought it would be serious. [LSU] is where I really wanted to be, and that’s where I really want to play. And it’s close to home, so that helped.”
The two grew up playing pee wee baseball and football together in Breaux Bridge.
They grew closer throughout the years, making the double announcement special for both families.
“It was an awesome feeling. Our families are so happy,” said Dural’s mother, Tameka. “I feel for Lamar how I feel for my own son. Words can’t even explain how I feel.”
Louis said the feeling was mutual in his household.
“It’s going to be exciting for them,” said Louis’ mother, Redell. “It’s going to be nice for him to have a friend and someone from the same hometown, somebody who’s close to him and somebody he grew up with. It means a lot.”
For Louis, the commitment is a happy ending to a rough recruiting season.
The summer before his junior season Louis suffered a knee injury, which severely limited his offseason work. Louis was then expelled from Breaux Bridge High in accordance with the school’s zero-tolerance policy for having an unloaded gun in his truck.
After a tedious process of waiver requests, Louis transferred to Teurlings Catholic High School. He eventually accepted an offer that would grant his re-eligibility at Breaux Bridge after a six-week stay at an alternative school.
“I’m happy that it’s all behind me, and I’m happy that I can play football again,” said the 6-foot, 215-pounder. “I need to focus on my senior season and get ready for LSU.”
The pair marks the eighth and ninth commitments LSU coach Les Miles has received for the 2012 class.
And while neither is listed in the Rivals.com Top 250 watch list, Rivals recruiting analyst Mike Scarborough had good things to say about both future Tigers.
“You can tell that [Dural] can be a very physical wide receiver once he matures and is able to get into a strength and conditioning program and learns to eat right,” Scarborough said. “From what we saw with [Louis], he looks like he had a lot of potential. He’s gone to the combines and tested very well, and you can’t deny his size.”
Dural joins highly touted Pompano Beach, Fla., native Avery Johnson as the second receiver in the class.
Louis said Miles offered him a spot at both running back and linebacker at LSU, but the young, talent-laden Tiger backfield is causing him to lean the other direction.
Derek Ponamsky, recruiting analyst and publisher of BayouBengalsInsider.com, agreed Louis’ future is on defense, but he didn’t rule out other possibilities.
“He was honestly recruited as an athlete,” Ponamsky said. “When you watch the film and you see him play linebacker, he’s a guy that can move very well. He has potential to be a physical back and possibly a fullback if they need him, and they’re going to keep the door open for him.”
 
 
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Contact Mark Clements at [email protected]