5-Star Derek Stingley talks recent offers, leads stars at Pylon 7v7

NEW ORLEANS, La. -- By the time the Louisiana Bootleggers won last weekend’s Pylon 7-on-7 regional tournament on their home turf in Tad Gormley Stadium, word had spread throughout the day on how strong five-star cornerback Derek Stingley had been playing.

The Baton Rouge native is another top in-state prospect thought to be all but a lock to eventually commit to LSU, but in the meantime, several other top programs have been taking their best shot to convince him to look elsewhere. Clemson is his most recent offer, and he said that an opportunity from that Tigers team at least deserves a closer look.

“That’s a pretty big deal, playing for them would be up there,” he said. “I didn’t think that they had an interest in me, but they showed that they do because now they gave me an offer. So I’m excited to see what kind of relationship we can build.”

“They were sending me things like dates on Twitter for events and stuff that they had coming up, but nothing like a real conversation,” he said. “Now that we’re here, I’ll probably make a trip out there in the summer or spring.”

Stingley also is weighing similar feelings with an offer from Notre Dame. The Irish offered him on February 15, just about a week after he released the programs in his Top 10.

“I feel the same with them as I do like with Clemson,” he said. “Pretty much everyone has the same amount of interest with me right now because I’m just trying to see where I want to go - I don’t even know where I want to go yet.”

With other schools not fazed by the announcement of a group of finalists, and big offers still coming in, Stingley admitted that he may need to make some revisions to that Top 10 before making any bigger decisions.

“I’m not in a hurry at all,” he said. “I had a Top 10 last week, but Notre Dame and Clemson came in after so now I might have to reconsider. My next top teams list might be different.”

The Pearland, Texas, Shadow Creek wide receiver has been seeing some positive momentum in his recruitment this spring, and showed why he’s starting to collect some notable Power Five offers over the last few weeks.

Headlining the programs that have gotten involved with him is West Virginia. Jackson said that he has a personal connection to the program and a trip to Morgantown is the top destination on his list this spring.

“Our coaches have history together,” he said. “Their receivers coach, [Tyrone Carrier], he’s real good friends with my coach at Shadow Creek - they went to Houston together, so they’re pretty close. I would just want to see everything out there.”

Otherwise, Kansas and Tulsa have been showing interest since offering him recently, and he plans to visit Notre Dame - and possibly Houston, if things continue progressing with the Cougars as they have been.

“I’ve been feeling pretty good about it. I’m just trying to stay humble, take what I can get,” he said. “The West Virginia coaches I’m pretty familiar with - we’ve been talking since I was in tenth grade. I like Kansas - I talked with the [offensive coordinator] and with Tulsa, the head coach and offensive coordinator had come up to the school to talk to me.”

Williams has been turning heads since last spring in camps and 7v7 tournaments with his quickness and penchant for making difficult - sometimes acrobatic - catches. He was a driving force on his King Football Academy side throughout the tournament, leading them to a finals matchup against the Bootleggers.

Williams had held an offer from UTSA for sometime now, but said it feels as though that relationship has begun to cool. He’s well-deserving of far more than what he’s gotten so far as a tricky and sure-handed slot receiver, but hasn’t quite been able to get over the hump with his recruitment. After playing last season in Jaylen Waddle’s shadow at Episcopal in Houston, this will be his year to shine.

One of Williams’ teammates on King Football Academy that helped himself was all-purpose back Kaleb Ducross. Even though he is still without any offers of his own to speak of, he is a reception machine and is powerfully built in his lower frame. Last summer, during St. Pius X’s run through the state 7v7 tournament, Ducros was a standout player on a side loaded with receiver talent. Now another year bigger and faster, he could become a familiar name by the end of spring.

Ellis showed out early in the day and was one of the more impressive defensive backs on the Louisiana-based EPS Blaze 7v7 team. The LaGrange cornerback isn’t overly imposing, but he’s athletically built and did well to spot the ball in the air and come back to it over and over. He said that Houston has been in contact with him, but feels as though Florida Atlantic has added him to its radar as well.

“I’ve had a few talks with Houston - we talk every week now,” he said. “My coach just told me that FAU was interested, but they wanted to see what I did this weekend and more of my film.”

Mayon transferred to Manvel this offseason and is a quick and steady worker in space. Prior to the weekend's tournament, he and his teammates took the opportunity to make a stop at Tulane and he gave the visit very positive marks.

“I really do like Tulane,” he said. “They welcomed us in and made us feel like we were part of the family. I don’t even have an offer from them and I feel like it was home. That’s a pretty good school that I would like to go to if I had the chance to.”