Aggies Land Two Highly Prized Louisiana Recruits in Keldrick Carper and Travis Etienne
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @HogManInLA
Texas A&M had a good weekend in Louisiana pulling two recruits out of the Sportsman’s Paradise getting three-star running back Travis Etienne on Saturday and four-star wide receiver Keldrick Carper on Sunday.
Etienne tore up the competition in 2015 rushing for 2,933 yards off 244 carries with 40 touchdowns. The Jennings High School talent showed signs of great playmaking ability during his sophomore year averaging 7.4 yards per carry tallying 733 yards on the ground with 11 touchdowns through six games of posted stats. The 5’11”, 200 pound, talent is a threat out of the backfield as well pulling in at least four passes for 119 yards with one score in 2014 (incomplete stats).
The Aggies picked up Etienne’s commitment over offers from Tennessee, Arkansas, Virginia Tech, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Memphis, Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State, and Alabama, among others. Etienne posted his commitment on Twitter reading, “#Blessed to say that I have made a verbal commitment to The University of Texas A&M! #GigEmGang17 #12thMan #YESSIR.”
Carper is the epitome of the small town athlete that is a superior athlete who can do it all. Carper connecting on 68 percent of his passes hitting 15 of 22 attempts for 111 yards, led his team in rushing yards with 716 off 112 totes with seven scores, and led the team with 947 receiving yards off 66 receptions with 13 more scores.
Plain Dealing High School even utilized Carper in the secondary seeing the 6’3”, 185 pound, standout come up with 22 tackles, 18 solo, and had a pick-six. He even returned a kickoff for a score during the 2015 season.
Carper had offers from over 30 programs before committing to Texas A&M. Teams seeking his all-around skill set included Arkansas, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Mississippi State, Arizona State, Miami, Tennessee, Ole Miss, TCU, Baylor, Nebraska, Duke, and South Carolina. Carper’s commitment went on Twitter as well reading, “All Praises Be To Thee Most High!!!” Followed by, in all caps, “I am proud to say I am officially committed to Texas A&M University!”
The Aggies now have 12 verbal commitments to their 2017 recruiting class. A&M has four verbal commits in June with Debione Renfro and Keynel McZeal starting the hot month on the recruiting trail.
Texas A&M 2017 Verbal Commitment List (12)
DB Devin Morris, 6-0, 175, Caldwell HS, Caldwell, TX
SS Derrick Tucker, 6-2, 194, Manvel HS, Manvel, TX
CB Myles Jones, 6-4, 175, Magnolia West HS, Magnolia, TX
OT Carson Green, 6-5, 250, Southlake Carrol HS, Southlake, TX
OT Grayson Reed, 6-5, 295, Cypress Creek HS, Houston, TX
OT Adrian Wolford, 6-5, 310, Meeker HS, Meeker, OK
TE Keynel McZeal, 6-3, 224, Port Neches-Groves, Port Neches, TX
RB Travis Etienne, 5-11, 200, Jennings HS, Jennings, LA
QB Connor Blumrick, 6-6, 203, Pearland HS, Pearland, TX
QB/ATH Roshauud Paul, 6-0, 170, Bremond HS, Bremond, TX
ATH Keldrick Carper, 6-3, 185, Plain Dealing HS, Plain Dealing, LA
ATH Debione Renfro, 6-2, 180, Pearland HS, Pearland, TX
Photo credit: americanpress.com; No. 8 Travis Etienne dives into the end zone.