Della Guidry
February 12, 2008
Robert Mike
February 14, 2008NSU SPORTS INFORMATION
Once all the National Letters of Intent were signed and sent in last Wednesday, Nicholls State head football coach Jay Thomas was pleased to announce the 2008 signing class which consisted of 29 outstanding athletes.
Of the 29 signees, 11 are from Louisiana, six are from both Mississippi and Texas, while Tennessee, Florida, California, Colorado, Georgia and Alabama each had one on Nicholls signing day list.
“We are very excited about our class this year. We feel like we have filled a lot of our needs, and feel like it is a very balanced class,” said Thomas about his signing class.
Of the 11 signees from Louisiana, Scotlandville High standout Laquintin Caston headlines the talented list.
Caston was an All-District player and passed for over 1,200 yards and rushed for over 600 yards in his lone season at quarterback.
Local products Hosea Chatman and Kerry Guidry also decided to continue their athletic and academic careers at Nicholls.
Chatman, who graduated from Ellender a semester early, is already enrolled at Nicholls and will participate in spring drills with the team.
Guidry, who was an All-District and All-Bayou Region player at H.L. Bourgeois, comes to Nicholls after having a stellar senior season that saw him record 79 total tackles, two interceptions, and a safety in 2007.
Headlining the Mississippi crop in this year’s signing class is Bobby Felder out of McComb High in McComb, Miss.
Felder was rated as a Top-25 player in the state of Mississippi by various publications, and recorded 12 interceptions in both his junior and senior seasons.
The McComb, Miss. native also ran the ball for the Tigers and rushed for over 1,000 yards, accumulated 675 receiving yards, and accounted for 21 total touchdowns.
Coming to Nicholls by way of Texas includes the duo of Isaac Crawford and Michael Holman from Livingston High in Livingston, Tex.
Crawford led the Lions in tackles with 176 total while Holman started every game
on the offensive line. Under their leadership, the Lions finished with a school best 10-3 record and went to the state playoffs.
Also signing with Nicholls from Texas includes Alonzo Highsmith who played linebacker for Elkins High.
Highsmith had a linebacker core best 94 total tackles in his senior season.
Joining the Colonels mid-year are Jeremy Evans, Demetrius ‘Trey’ Hopson, and Albert Williams from Mississippi Gulf Coast CC in Perkinston, Miss., Josh Green from Modesto JC in Modesto, Calif., and Marlin Meeks from Coahoma CC in Clarksdale, Miss.
Softball team releases schedule
The Colonels will open their 2008 season on the road against the Houston Cougars on Friday with a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. followed by a contest at 5 p.m.
Nicholls, who finished last season 27-28 overall with a 16-13 conference record, enters the 2008 season picked to finish fifth in the Southland Conference by both the coaches and sports information directors.
The Colonels return all but three starters from a season ago, and headlining the 2008 squad is senior Kathryn Harrell. Harrell batted a single-season school record .453 at the plate in 2007 while battling a lingering injury throughout the year.
The Colonels also return power hitters Amy Thibodeaux and Danielle Clayton to their lineup in 2008.
Thibodeaux, a preseason SLC first team selection, hit .340 and returns the second best slugging percentage on the team with her .597 mark. She started every game last season at first base with the exception of one.
Clayton hit a single-season school record 12 homeruns in her sophomore campaign while also being named to the SLC third team at second base.
Like Clayton, junior Kodi Butler also had career season as she batted .307 in the two-hole, and only fell victim to strikeout only seven times in 176 plate appearances.
Butler was a SLC first team selection in the outfield in 2007.
The circle will also be a bright spot for the Colonels as they return seniors Jessica Barksdale and Krystalin Ensminger, junior Alex Austin, and welcome highly-touted newcomer Lacey Gros to the staff.
Gros, a sophomore from Schriever, La., transferred to Nicholls from Southern Miss, and sat out 2007.
The first game will start at 3 p.m. with the next contest beginning at 5 p.m.
Both games can be followed live statistically by accessing the GameTracker link at www.geauxcolonels.com.
