Fort follows a winning plan

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Waynesville, Mo., outside linebacker L.J. Fort was looking for a performance like this.

At Saturday's NIKE Training Camp at Purdue University, the 6-foot, 205-pound outside linebacker was one of the better players at his position, and his strong performance went right according to plan. And it was a plan he formulated after attending the Rivals.com Junior Day in Columbia, Mo., earlier this spring.

"I went to the Rivals Junior Day, and I remember the speaker saying the earlier you come to camps like this the better it is for you to get on the map," he said. "The big D-I schools start the process in May and the coaches can come to this camp, instead of the one in June at Mizzou. So it was real important for me to come to this camp and do well."

And Fort did just that.

"I think I did pretty well," Fort said. "I was among the top of linebackers for sure. I wish I could have done a little better with my position drills, but the one-on-ones were better and in the agilities I did pretty good overall. It was pretty nervous coming out here and seeing some guys a little bigger than me for a change, but in the end I definitely felt good about how I did.

"It was fun. I'm going back with my head held high."

Fort said he's high on a few schools that have been showing him some good attention in the recruiting process.

"It's picked up lately," he said."Kansas State and Mizzou are the only ones that I've actually talked to one the phone, but I got a whole bunch of letters from everywhere. I'm also just starting to send my highlight tape out even more.

"Kansas State says if I do well at their camp, then they'd likely step up and offer me at their camp. Mizzou said they want me to come to their one-day camp thing, too. So this is really starting to get exciting for me. I'm just taking it in."