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2009 Texas DE ready to impress

The state of Texas looks plentiful for big defensive and offensive lineman in the class of 2009. While many names have already emerged such as Cedar Hill's Thomas Ashcraft and Lufkin's Jamarcus McFarland, another name is surfacing.
That is South Grand Prairie defensive end Randall Dent who already checks in at the 6-foot-4, 270-pound mark. Dent, a second-team all-district selection as a sophomore, was first found as a freshman going up against the likes of former teammate and future Texas Longhorn offensive lineman Tray Allen.
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Now, Dent is ready to get his name into the spotlight.
"I want to get my name out there so everybody knows about me down the line," Dent said.
That's why Dent made an appearance at this past weekend's NIKE Combine in Keller, Texas. The talented defensive end said that he just wanted to get a taste of the level of competition with the older guys.
"I just wanted to get a feel and prepare myself for the things to come," Dent said. "I can get better at pass-rushing, but for now, I'm good at stopping the run."
Dent says that going up against prospects like Allen, a five-star offensive lineman in the class of 2007, certainly helped him prepare himself.
"I was a freshman when I went up against him first," Dent said about his one-on-one match-ups with Allen. "First time, he pancaked me and then laid on me for a minute. I got used to it after a while. It's good because he made me better and makes me a better athlete. Plus, he always worked hard every practice.
"He pushed me."
Dent says that the recruiting mail hasn't started coming yet. As a junior-to-be, he's certainly got time and the interest shouldn't be much farther down the line. Dent has a few schools he'd like to hear from when the time comes.
"It's probably Texas, LSU, USC, and schools like that," he said. "I just like the fan-support at those schools and the winning traditions. There are so many colleges out there, I don't know exactly where I want to go yet."
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