Elite Louisiana QB thinking two sports
Reading pass coverages or smashing fastballs?
It won't be a matter of either/or, according to Monroe (La.) two-sport star
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Lane. At least not at this point in time.
"Wherever I decide to go, the baseball side of it will
be big. It has to be part of the deal in order for me to sign," said Lane, who
has more than 60 scholarship offers but only a handful that have agreed to let
him pursue both sports. "That's basically how I got my list narrowed down and
eliminated some teams.
"I liked Miami a lot, but they didn't want to take a
chance on losing me to baseball. They lost a guy like that a couple of years ago
and told me they just didn't want to risk it. Of course, Miami can get about any
quarterback they want, but I respected them for being up front with me."
The teams at the top of Lane's list currently include
LSU, Auburn, Ole Miss, Clemson, Colorado, Tennessee and Florida.
"Being in Louisiana and exposed to it all the time, I
guess you could probably say LSU is my favorite," Lane said. "It's a great
school and I really like coach (Nick) Saban. He's a guy I feel like I can trust.
But I really don't have my list down as 1, 2, 3... anything like that yet. I'm
not going to do anything early. The earliest I would commit is September, but
probably later than that. I want to see what all is out there."
Lane's supreme athleticism rank him among the nation's
top players in both sports. He's 6-foot-3, 210 pounds and has run a 4.55 in the
40-yard dash. As a junior at Neville High School, he passed for 2,300 yards and
28 touchdowns while rushing for more than 600 yards and 12 more scores to earn
Class 4A all-state honors.
On the baseball diamond, he was named all-state at
shortstop after batting .515 with 12 home runs and 50 RBI.
"I'm not playing baseball this summer," he said. "Some
of the (pro baseball) scouts have told me I'm crazy for that, but I need to go
to some (football) camps and work hard on getting ready for next season."
Lane is a probable high draft pick in the June 2003
amateur baseball draft --- "the scouts tell me first or second round," he said
--- but playing quarterback also has a strong pull on his emotions. He's been
invited and will participate in the Elite Eleven quarterbacks camp in California
July 24-28.
"I'm really looking forward to that," he said. "You get
a chance to work out with some of the best quarterbacks in the game and see how
you stack up against the best high school players in the nation. I'm excited
about going and seeing how I look against those guys and maybe learning a thing
or two."
On his return trip from California, Lane said he'll
visit Colorado. He'll also be at Auburn for a baseball camp in July.