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It took one short visit to Zachary, Louisiana for Tim Lester to offer Lindsey Scott, Jr. a scholarship. Scott immediately accepted the offer to join the Syracuse Orange. Now, everyone has seen what Lester saw.
Scott has been named Gatorade Player of the Year for Louisiana. Scott now will be considered for the Gatorade National Player of the Year Award. In choosing the award winners, Gatorade considers athletic performance as well as academic achievement and commitment to the community. Scott has a 3.77 GPA and volunteers in the community through his church.
Scott was also named the Louisiana Class 5A Most Valuable Player on offense. It is the second straight year the Louisiana Sports Writers Association has voted him the Player of the Year.
On the field, Scott led Zachary High School to its first ever Louisiana 5A State Championship. Scott amassed 3,039 yards passing while completing 163 of 255 passes (63.9%) for 33 touchdowns, 1,963 yards on 220 carries and 28 more touchdowns on the ground.
With the change in coaching staff, Scott's future with the Orange was in flux. However, earlier this month, Scout confirmed that Coach Babers' staff had been in contact with Scott and told him that the scholarship offer was still available. Scott said he was happy to hear from the new staff and that he never wavered in his commitment to Syracuse, according to Mike McAllister.
Syracuse is Scott's only power 5 conference offer to date. His stature, listed various places as either 5'11" or 6'0", is seen as an impediment to his major conference success at the quarterback position; however it is likely that more teams will offer over the next six weeks.
Scott's height should not be problem in Coach Babers' offensive system. Bowling Green quarterback Matt Johnson is listed as 6'0" and he threw for 4,946 yards completing 383 pass on 569 attempts (67.3%) and 46 touchdowns, breaking Ben Roethlisberger's MAC conference record for passing yards in a season. Babers' offense does have some element of read option to it as well. Scott's reported 4.49 40-yard dash time will make him a dynamic threat on the ground as well as through the air.
Scott's father played his high school football in the Baton Rouge area and played running back at Southern University as well. After college Scott Sr. tried out for the CFL. He now practices law in Baton Rouge as well as coaching his son. The elder Scott enlisted the help of former NFL QB Jeff Garcia, who succeeded in the NFL despite his diminutive stature, in training his son to compete at a higher level.
A lot can change in a matter of six week In the cutthroat world of college football recruiting. Here's hoping that on February 3rd Lindsey Scott Jr. faxes his letter of intent to Syracuse because I think his physical abilities and his intangibles will make him a success. Here's a look at the tape from his Championship winning senior year: