Houston OL is all grown up

Houston Bush offensive lineman Russell Okung can't believe what has happened to him over the past six months.

"I was that little pudgy fat kid that kids wouldn't let play," he said. "We moved around a lot also, so I never really got settled growing up. It was just me and my mom.

"Now I've grown to 6-foot-5, which allowed me to slim down. I started playing football my sophomore year and now schools are offering me scholarships. It still hasn't hit me. I guess that's why I'm still pretty laid back about the recruiting process."

The athletic 6-5, 250-pound athlete is manning a tackle position for Bush High School but is projected as a defensive end to a tight end at the college level.

"I was at LSU's camp this week and liked that they wanted to play me at tight end," he said. "The campus was great, the coaches were cool and I did well at the camp. I was going up against 300-pounders and shutting them down."

Okung was an all-Greater Houston selection as a junior, which opened the floodgates for offers in the spring. Since then he has taken unofficial visits to LSU and Texas A&M, and has plans to go to Oklahoma State, Arizona and Texas Tech.

"I'd like to sneak in Kansas State and Iowa State but my mom's pockets are getting tight," he said. "I'm really just trying to get as many unofficials in this summer as a I can, commit early, but still take a few official visits in the fall."

While he says he has no official top five, Okung pinpointed a few programs he knows he likes.

"I like LSU," he said. "Texas A&M has the tradition thing going for them and it's close. I really want to get up to OSU's camp and I like the offensive line coach up there. Coach (Mike) Leach personally came to my school to check on me, which was really cool, and I think Arizona was my first offer and the climate is great for my asthma."

That pudgy kid with the inhaler has a lot of paybacks coming his way.