HUTTO, Texas -- He was the first commitment of the 2012 recruiting class for Sonny Dykes and his staff and unlike several other commitments, Ryan Higgins has stayed firm in his promise and will be on campus officially in June and will actually finally be making his official recruiting visit this coming weekend.
The 6-1, 183-pound signal-caller out of Hutto High School is a three-star prospect according to the latest Rivals.com rankings. Committed to Louisiana Tech since June 15th of last year, Higgins chose the Bulldogs over scholarship offers from Memphis and Texas State.
"It was a huge deal for me when I found out that Coach Dykes was staying in Ruston and not taking the Houston job," he said. "My dad and I were hearing a lot of rumors about job offers and interviews with other schools and to be honest with you we were actually starting to get a little worried. However, the day of the bowl game seeing him (Dykes) sign the contract extension it seemed like it was a huge weight of worry off our shoulders. It is an awesome feeling of relief and confidence that Coach Dykes is going to be there and be my head coach once I arrive on campus.
"Now that I don't have to worry about it, I can say that it was probably going to be a deal breaker in terms of my commitment should Coach Dykes have not stayed at Tech. There is a good chance that I would have started to look at other schools and think about some of the other scholarship offers that I had received. However, now I'm just glad that is something that I don't have to worry about anymore. I talk with (assistant coach) Mark Tommerdahl every week and he kind of set the record straight. He seems really excited about how the team is really coming together and that they (coaching staff) are in it for the long haul. Now they just want me to get there as soon as possible and get to work."
Seeing his senior season end in the bi-district round of the state playoffs, Higgins is coming off of a productive 2011 campaign that saw him through for 1,759 yards on 131-of-224 passes to go along with eight touchdowns against only three interceptions. He also was able to rush for 288 yards on 73 attempts for three more touchdowns as he helped his squad to a 9-2 record.
An ardent follower of his future school throughout the season, Higgins said the Poinsettia Bowl was no different as he was glued to the television for the Bulldogs game against TCU.
"I thought we played really well," Higgins said. "It was a close game throughout and it is really devastating to lose like that. They played their hearts out and if it wasn't for a few mistakes, we were playing really well. I was really proud of how well our guys played against a very good TCU team."
Higgins will get the chance to tell that to his future teammates in person this weekend when along with his dad and grandfather he will be making his official visit to the Ruston campus.
"I'll be down there this weekend," Higgins said. "I just want to go down there and meet up with more of the players and just get my dad and grandfather a little more acquainted with the campus and the atmosphere that they will be seeing when they come down here for games once I arrive. I love Louisiana Tech and can't wait to get there. I'm 100-percent a Bulldog.
"It is going to be kind of cool one last road trip with my dad and grandfather. We are going to get the chance to spend some quality time together before I go off to school."
One thing Higgins is not worried about once he arrives on campus is the depth at the quarterback position despite the fact that all signs point to Colby Cameron, Nick Isham and Taylor Burch all returning for the 2012 season.
"The number of quarterbacks right now on the roster does not worry me in the slightest," Higgins said. "I am going in with the mindset that I am going to go in there and do the best I can and beat out whomever I can. I'm feeling confident in myself and that I will be able to beat out whoever I want. Don't get me wrong, Colby (Cameron) is awesome and if I get redshirted either way I will be okay with it. I'm not worried about at all whoever is already there. My job is to come in and show the coaching staff what I can do and make it a hard decision for them to make come the start of the season."
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