FRANKLIN -- It didn’t take long for Franklin’s Gavin Stansbury to figure out where he wanted to play college football.

All it took was one unofficial visit to Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, and the FSH senior was hooked on Aggieland.

But a strange thing happened after he gave head coach Mike Sherman a verbal commitment to play with the Aggies after he graduates at the end of the upcoming school year.

Franklin standout Gavin Stansbury, who gave a verbal committment to Texas A&M University, works on his legs during summer workouts at Franklin Senior High’s weight room. The FSH senior is expected to be a major force for the Hornets this year. - Lee Ball / The Daily Iberian Advertisement

Suddenly, he became a hot commodity in the recruiting wars.

“Right now he is verbally committed to Texas A&M but a host of schools, including LSU, Tulsa, Mississippi State, Tulane, have been here trying to get here to change his commitment and have a chance to recruit him,” said Franklin coach Zeb Simon.

Stansbury’s road to the college ranks has been an interesting journey so far.

Texas A&M coaches began recruiting him in the spring after seeing him while studying film highlights of a player on an opposing team.

“He and his parents went down there and saw the school and the facilities and came away impressed with the place,” said Simon. “They (A&M) put it on the table and Gavin gave the verbal committment.

“Since then, everyone has been looking at film and studying him and all the consensus with the coaches that have seen him is that they missed him. Now that he’s given the verbal commitment, he’s become a major recruit in the state.”

Stansbury should be a major recruit on size alone. The FSH senior stands 6-foot-3, weights 235 pounds, can bench press 320 pounds and was recently clocked at 4.8 seconds in the 40-yard dash.

Numbers like that should make any coach drool about the prospect of Stansbury roaming the defensive line or anchoring the offensive line.

“Texas A&M offered him right away,” said Simon. “In fact, Coach Mike Sherman faxed me a copy of the letter that he sent Gavin and his mother that they were going to uphold their end of the bargain with a full athletic scholarship.”

Stansbury has proven his value to the Hornets football team at both defensive end and offensive tackle. Last year he was first team All-District 6-3A as a defensive lineman for the Hornets and was chosen as to The Daily Iberian’s Best of the Teche Football Team at that position. He also anchored a line that allowed quarterback Chase Boykins to throw for 1,500 yards and 14 touchdowns.

While his football acumen is without question, it was his interest in academics that made him commit to Texas A&M.

“I really liked how the coaches talked about academics,” said Stansbury. “It’s very well regarded with its academic programs.”

And the football team is not bad either.

“They wanted me to come in and be a major part of their 2010 class,” said Stansbury. “I guess they like the way I played on offense and defense. They know I work hard at both positions and they believe that I’m good enough to play for them.”

So far, coaches at A&M have told Stansbury that they want him to come in and play defensive end but the FSH senior knows that might change and he could end up on the offensive side of the ball as a tackle.

“I like playing defense but everybody tells me I’m a better offensive tackle,” said Stansbury. “Texas A&M likes me at offensive tackle but I told them that I want to play defensive end and they like me there too.

“But I know that when I get there they are going to put me where they want me. It won’t bother me, just as long as I get to play.”

Stansbury didn’t have a bad time during the recruiting process.

“I didn’t mind going through the recruiting process and I’m glad I chose Texas A&M,” said Stansbury, who says that the only other places he would reconsider for right now is Arkansas and LSU. “I’ll still listen to other universities but A&M is the major college that I want to go to now.”

Right now, however, the Franklin senior is looking ahead to the upcoming football season and leading the Hornets to the district title and a long run in the playoffs.

“I just want to far in the playoffs,” said Stansbury. “I don’t want to settle for first round, second round. I want to go far in the playoffs.”

Editor’s Note:

This is the first in a series of stories this summer about some of the Teche Area’s top high school football players being recruited by college coaches.