RECRUITING: Pleasantly Surprised

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Mansfield (La.) defensive tackle Chris Davenport gets the call from the U.S. Army

by Daniel Mingea III
Tiger Rag Recruiting Analyst

CLICK HERE to read Mingea’s recruiting blog at NOLA.com.

One of the more colorful commitments in LSU’s class of 2009 is 5-star defensive tackle Chris Davenport. The Mansfield High School product has already become a spokesperson on the recruiting front for the Tigers and now he looks to take that leadership to the playing field next year.

His senior season at Mansfield High School ended in a way he would like to forget, and it appears Davenport has already begun to move on.

“I wish my senior season would have had a better ending, but you can’t dwell on the past,” Davenport claimed. “I had some sad moments in the last two or three games of the season and that’s when it really started to set in that this was going to be my last year of playing high school football. I’m looking forward to the future. It was a great career for me, but it’s over with now.

“And even though the season is over my schedule has been pretty much the same,” Davenport continued. “I’ve been training and I have a personal trainer now that is helping me get ready for the Army All-American game. We’ve been doing the basic upper and lower body lifts with a little bit of conditioning every day.”

The U.S. Army All-American game will be held on January 3rd at noon in San Antonio, Texas. Only an elite, select few were chosen to participate in the prestigious event. And being that Davenport missed over half of his senior season due to a knee injury, the invitation came as a pleasant surprise.

“It was a surprise,” Davenport admitted. “I hadn’t talked to the guy that selected the players since before the summer, but the last time I did speak to him he said there was a good chance I’d be in the game.

“It was so surprising to me because I knew I wouldn’t be able to put up big numbers this year because I was hurt for most of the season,” Davenport continued. “I guess I put up enough numbers during my junior season to pull out an invitation for the game.”

Over the course of the 2009 recruiting period Davenport formed a close relationship with another prospect that will not only be appearing in the All-American game, but will also be playing alongside Davenport next year at LSU.

“I talked to Chris (Faulk) on Sunday,” Davenport informed. “We talked about the All-American game and about all of the work we are going to have to do once we get to LSU. I know we’ll have some fun mixed in there too, but LSU is going to require a lot of hard work.”

Being that Faulk and Davenport play on the opposite sides of the ball, it is likely they will square up at the Army combine. How will Davenport be able to handle the 6-foot-6, 300-pound Faulk?

“I don’t know,” Davenport said with a laugh. “We won’t know until the time gets here, but I’m 6-foot-5 and 300-pounds myself so size will not matter. We are both good players and so whatever happens, happens, but in the end, once it’s over, we’ll still be good players.”