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In a name? LSU commit Decoldest Crawford's drive far exceeds Internet hype

LSU's latest commitment tends to garner excitement and lofty expectations at first mention.

But more than living up to any social media chatter surrounding his name, Decoldest Crawford's drive comes from a deeper desire to represent his family, his community and his state.

"This week has been amazing and thrilling for me, because in this area of Louisiana, it's only a 5 percent chance that kids would get an LSU offer," said Green Oaks' sophomore wide receiver, who became the Tigers' second pledge for the 2022 class Monday. "I broke the cycle because I was the youngest kid around this area to receive this offer so early.

"I am born and raised in Louisiana, so why not commit to LSU and win a championship for my hometown college? Overall the whole process makes me feel this decision would change me and my family's life."

The 6-foot-1, 170 standout is the first football player from the Cooper Road neighborhood high school to commit to LSU since former Giants star Tre'Davious White signed in 2013.

But Crawford has been determined to overcome challenges and reach his potential from a young age.

"Being great is my No. 1 priority," he said. "My dad passed away when I was in elementary. After that, this taught me how to be a man and never give up. My own drive is specifically not just about football. It comes with grades first. If I don't have the grades, I can't get on the field, so I have to work in the classroom before I do anything else."

Green Oaks coach Terrence Isaac Sr. has seen that mindset in action from the moment Crawford began high school.

"He came in and started for us as a freshman and was asked to play early," the coach said. "And you could kind of tell last year he was moving in the right direction, and then he came in this year and just put in the work — worked on route-running, worked on getting stronger in the weight room, worked on his hands. He stayed at a lot of different camps this year, and it's definitely paying off for him.

"All summer, he never missed a work out. From the 5 a.m. workouts to the 6 p.m. workouts, he never missed on workout. And there were even some days where he wasn't feeling too good, and he was still able to come in and put the work in. He's just one of those guys continues to just work and work and work. Whether he's lifting weights or out on the field running routes, he's trying to be the best at everything that he does."

Crawford caught 18 passes for 203 yards as a freshman before exploding for 30 catches, 691 yards and six touchdowns in the first eight games this season.

Southern and Southern Miss extended scholarship offers this spring.

And, in a span of 10 days this month, came Washington State on Oct. 16, Illinois State on Friday and finally home-state LSU on Saturday.

"With all my guys, I like to sit down and pick their brains about their top five schools and try to focus on those top fives for all those guys," Isaac said. "And Cold always said that he really wanted that LSU offer. He said that was his dream school. And he said if they ever offered, that he was jumping on it right away."

For the second time in the past few months, his name set Twitter ablaze with a wide range of reactions that ranged from excitement, to criticism, and once again false, but firm assertions of the middle name "ToEvaDoIt."

"At first, he had a lot of fun with it," Isaac said. "Then you know how people can be on social media. Some people can be really mean. And what I try to tell people is 'This is a kid that's 15 years old. Let's not lose sight of that.' It came to a point where people got really, really disrespectful towards him and towards his family and just saying mean things and things like that, and I think that's when it got kind of frustrating for him. But through it all, he still kept a level head and managed to kind of had some fun with it."

Crawford's focus remains on ways to continue to progress his own skillset to make a greater impact when he's able to follow White's and, more recently, former Parkway wide receiver Terrace Marshall Jr.'s footsteps from the Shreveport-Bossier area to Baton Rouge.

He made the trip Saturday to watch the Tigers' 23-20 defeat of then-No. 9 Auburn and made sure to pick coach Ed Orgeron's and wide receiver coach Mickey Joseph's brains about focus areas moving forward.

"We talked about stuff that I could accomplish at LSU in order to get to the next level," he said. "They made me feel as if I was at home. Coach Joseph said that my route-running, weight, size, quickness, blocking style and more things will improve to an elite ability."

Isaac looks forward to seeing the strides still ahead for a young player he calls "a student of the game."

And whether his name was Decoldest ToEvaDoIt, Decoldest Juan or anything else, his coach has seen enough of his humility and work ethic to feel confident he would live up to any expectations set in front of him.

"What I see is a kid that really wants to be great and works hard and does all the necessary things that he needs to do to be great," Isaac said. "He gets in there, one of the first guys in the weight room and one of the last guys out. He puts in all the extra work. He's a great student and an even better person. And I'm just happy for him.

"Even if his name was John Smith, the kid can play football. He can really flat-out play football... You know it's a cool name, but I don't want people to lose sight of the fact that this kid can really play football. He's a really, really good football player that's only going to get better."

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