Lane solid on LSU, but baseball looms
One of the nation's elite quarterbacks spent the
holiday shooting down a whole lot of 'D.'
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As in deer, ducks and defenses.
Monroe (La.) standout and LSU verbal commitment
Robert Lane mixed in a little hunting/camping expedition with
a thrilling playoff victory to highlight his busy weekend.
"He and some friends took a little trip into south
Arkansas," said the player's father, Bobby Lane. "They were camping out,
having a great time. They said they got a deer and were doing some duck
hunting the last time I talked to them. Robert loves the outdoors."
Almost as much as he enjoys picking apart defenses.
Lane, a member of the
Rivals100 team and the No.
1 dual-threat quarterback in the nation, came back Friday night and led
Neville to a 21-17 victory over St. Thomas More in the Louisiana Class 4A
quarterfinals. He passed for a modest 128 yards, but 80 of them came on a
big touchdown strike to help pull Neville back from an early 16-0 deficit.
He added 55 yards rushing and a touchdown to help send the Tigers (11-1) to
the semifinals for the first time in seven years. They'll face perennial
powerhouse and defending 4A champion John Curtis Christian next week with a
trip to the Superdome on the line.
For the season, he's completed 52 percent of his
passes for 1,733 yards and 15 touchdowns with only three interceptions. He's
also rushed for 844 yards and 16 scores.
"They've been a much more balanced offense this
year," said Bobby Lane, noting that Robert had 2,508 passing yards last
season but the team didn't have the same level of success. "They've got a
real nice 1,000-yard running back, and he's thrown about 70 fewer passes, so
the numbers aren't real big. But he's playing better than ever before,
especially with his decisions and leadership. Robert would be the first to
tell you he could care less about the stats. He'd mop the floor to win a
championship."
Lane said the family continues to get lots of
inquiries about Robert's future, despite his August commitment to Nick Saban
& Co. Part of that is teams hoping he'll reconsider. Another is the baseball
side of the equation. Lane, who batted .515 with 12 home runs and 50 RBI as
a junior, figures to be a high selection in next year's June amateur draft.
"He's real pleased with his commitment," Lane said.
"We went for an unofficial visit last weekend to see them play Ole Miss and
had a great time. He loves LSU; couldn't be happier with that decision.
"He's still getting some calls from certain people
-- Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, Clemson -- and constant mail from Florida. But
they've been very cordial about it. They just say 'We still like you. We
respect your decision, but please keep us in mind because we're still
keeping you in mind. I know how that works because they've seen kids back
out countless times, so you understand that they have to keep the plate
warm."
Meanwhile, baseball scouts are also knocking at the
door.
"They're wanting to come into the house and conduct
interviews," Lane said. "But we won't do any of that until the playoffs are
over and Robert gets to enjoy the holidays with his family. We want him to
have some of that time to himself."
And where does he stand on the topic of professional
baseball?
"Baseball America has him real high right
now," Lane said. "They did a mock draft recently and projected him as the
19th pick overall. Of course, you can take that for what it's worth and get
a cup of coffee.
"Right now, I know he's thinking college. He loves
the thought of playing football and baseball at LSU. It's hard to get much
better than that right now. LSU won the SEC championship in football last
year, and LSU baseball is as good as it gets.
"But you never know when June rolls around and he's
drafted. A lot of it could depend on what team picks him, what their
organization looks like, and what their plans for him are. There's a lot of
factors that will come into it. But it's one of those good problems to
have."