New Iberia Senior High School placekicker Colby Delahoussaye made it official last week, signing a national letter of intent with LSU after touring the school with his family and meeting with coach Les Miles last weekend, according to The Daily Iberian.
Delahoussaye, who had a number of scholarship offers, will be a preferred walk-on at LSU and will likely redshirt his freshman season, said his father, Dwayne Delahoussaye. That means his son, who is currently preparing for a Division I soccer quarterfinal game with his NISH teammates, will pay his own way as a freshman and earn a scholarship after that. The Tigers’ starting kicker, Drew Alleman, will be a senior next season.
He had committed to LSU but waited until near the end of soccer season before signing his national letter of intent.
Colby Delahoussaye told the newspaper that playing for LSU has been one of his dreams since he was a youngster attending games at Tiger Stadium.
“I’ve been thinking about going through that tunnel” and running onto the field in an LSU uniform since then, said Delahoussaye. “It really hasn’t hit me that I’m going to LSU yet. I think the first day of practice is when it will really hit me.
“I’m excited.”
Dwayne Delahoussaye said that in excess of 90 schools showed interest in his son, ranging from text messages and phone calls to letters and scholarship offers. Purdue, Baylor and Mississippi State were among the other major programs showing strongest interest. A number of Division III teams said he’d be a four-year starter as a kicker and punter for them, though they offer only academic scholarships and not athletic scholarships.
“It’s amazing the number of schools there are in this country,” said Dwayne Delahoussaye.
A tour of college football camps last summer, including Mississippi State, Southern Mississippi, Auburn, LSU and Louisiana-Monroe, were instrumental in getting his name known. Dwayne Delahoussaye said the NCSA Recruiting Service also put together a profile of his son that was seen by quite a few schools.
“It was really fun,” said Colby Delahoussaye of the summer camps. “I got to see all the traditions in the SEC, the rolling of the trees at Auburn, the Dog Walk at Mississippi State.”
Delahoussaye was a first-team All-District pick and first team on The Daily Iberian’s Best of the Teche team after hitting six field goals and 33 point-after kicks as a senior, as well as placing the vast majority of his kickoffs into the end zone.
NISH head football coach Rick Hutson says Delahoussaye is the best kicker he’s been around in his 20-plus years of coaching.
“Colby’s been very fortunate to be blessed with coaches like Coach Hutson and Coach (Kevin) Hardy on the soccer side, and now Coach Miles,” said Dwayne Delahoussaye.
Colby Delahoussaye said he plans to work hard as soon as he hits campus.
“I actually told Coach Miles I want to compete as soon as I get there,” said Delahoussaye.
