By LEE BRECHEEN, Louisiana Football Magazine/TV
A true legit Division 1 sleeper going into his senior season is wide receiver Ja’corian Norris from Tioga High School. The main reason he’s a sleeper — he moved to WR from safety for this season and has looked incredible ever since.
Tioga football coach Kevin Cook and his staff made the move and saw it quickly work out.
“Norris had a great spring for us and the move to WR has been really good for him and our program. He’s a great track athlete who is a big time football player,” said his coach.
Looking at Norris from a recruiting perspective, I like his frame. He currently 6-1, 185 pounds with room to get bigger in college.
You can tell he’s played defense and safety because at receiver, he’s tough, physical and strong when the ball is in the air.
Norris appreciates how Cook and the Tioga staff provide leadership and mentorship.
“My head coach, Kevin Cook, is great. He does a really good job of keeping us accountable for our actions and pushes us to our limit to get better each and every day. It’s not just him, it’s all our coaches pushing us to become a better version of ourselves every day.”
Norris says his roots in the Boot make his favorite college team an obvious choice.
“I grew up here and my favorite college football team is LSU, because it’s what I grew up around. When I went to one of their games it was the best experience,” he said. “The environment was even 10 times better in person.”
Norris fits the “sleeper” recruiting definition – for now.
“I don’t have offers yet, but I went to the LSU, UL Lafayette and Louisiana Tech camps,” he told me.
It will come as little surprise as to which game this fall he has circled on the calendar.
“My favorite high school to play every year is Pineville. It’s our rivalry game and nothing is better than a rivalry game with both of the stands packed.”
I asked Norris what he needs to work on as a football player.
“I need to work on my footwork and body control. In the game of football, footwork and body control are the keys to a lot of things,” he said.
Tidbits about Jacorian Norris:
He carries a 3.5 GPA and has posted an ACT score of 18.
Norris runs track and has played basketball. In track, Norris made it to regionals in three events and has helped the Indians’ track and field team to back-to-back state runner-up finishes in Class 4A.
When he gets to college, he has an eye on entrepreneurship and will major in that field or a business-related curriculum.
Norris says his hobbies are playing pickup games of basketball and football.
His family has been active in sports. Mom ran cross country, played softball and was on the dance line for Peabody High School. His brother played football for Tioga. His uncle played football for Bolton. Cousins also played football for the Bears. His sister was on the dance line at ASH.
Norris started playing football at the tender age of 5. It was his first sport to try, and he plans to follow it to college.
Contact Lee at lbrecheen@aol.com
Lee Brecheen has operated Louisiana Football Magazine for over 30 years and is one of the state’s foremost experts on high school football and especially recruiting. Based in Baton Rouge, Lee travels statewide to watch practices and games and has broken down film and tape since the late 1980s. He has converted the printed product to a website (Lafootballmagazine.com) that will preview every high school and college football program in the state before kickoff this fall. Lee also hosts a football-centric TV show on YouTube, The Sports Scouting Report, on weekdays.
