Henrietta Wildsmith/The Times
It wouldn’t be a normal December signing day in Northwest Louisiana if there weren’t an eclectic mix of colleges chosen by some of the area’s superior athletes.
Ole Miss, TCU, Arkansas, LSU, Air Force, Tulane and Louisiana Tech were among the FBS schools earning signatures from area football players Wednesday on the first day 2025 graduate football players could sign.
Calvary Baptist and Ruston led the way for the area. Calvary had five football signees and a track signee. Ruston had four signees in football, two in baseball and one in softball.
Calvary’s James Simon (Texas), Devin Harper (Ole Miss), Julius Moss (Air Force), Kolby Thomas (La. Tech) and Kaleb Tucker (Texas Southern) were joined by LSU track signee Jackson Burney in a mega signing event in the school’s gym.
When Simon initially received a call and offer from Texas, he couldn’t see himself playing there.
“I didn’t know if they’d be the contender that they ended up being,” Simon said. “I was really for LSU, and it ended up being those two in the end. But what pulled Texas away was the relationship and they proved how much they cared about me, the value they have for me, and they backed it up.”
Calvary coach Rodney Guin said he expects to have several more signees in February. The Cavaliers play Catholic-New Iberia at 7 p.m. Friday in the LHSAA Select Division III semifinals.
