LSU football legacy Parker Fulghum weighing option of walk-on offer

Over the last two years, Evangel Christian wide receiver Parker Fulghum felt he fell under the radar. He missed his freshman season due to injury, but the Class of 2024 wideout clawed his way through the last three years while not fitting the mold of a dominant receiver.

“I put up big stats, but it’s Louisiana. It’s not Texas or California,” said Fulghum, who stands 6-foot-1, 190 pounds. “I’m also a white guy, so that kind of hurts me a little bit. And I wear glasses, so I kind of don’t fit the picture.”

Getting back to the gridiron his sophomore year, Fulghum took off for 1,300 yards on 70 receptions, sneaking past defenders in man coverage with many teams putting him on the back burner of targets to heavily defend.

By his junior season, he saw more teams bracketing him on defense, but not the top teams, as programs like Westgate still ran man.

“I had two touchdowns and 140 yards on ‘em,” Fulghum said about playing against Westgate, a team that deployed former four-star safety Derek Williams. “And that’s my breakout game junior year.”

Last offseason, Fulghum turned the corner. He added seven or eight pounds of muscle and broke out 4.40 40-yard dash, according to the Polynesian Bowl National Combine & Showcase in April.

Fulghum received offers from Division-II programs before his first Division-I offers rolled in from Northwestern State, Nicholls State and Grambling State in his senior season.

But where he stands in regard to his future is on the trail of being a walk-on for either LSU or Clemson.

Fulghum received a preferred walk-on offer from LSU on Thursday. Head coach Brian Kelly and defensive line coach John Jancek visited Evangel Christian a day prior to Gabriel Reliford’s commitment announcement to the Tigers, making one last push at the in-state four-star.

“(Kelly) had sent a coach up one game to watch me and nothing came out of it,” said Fulghum, who acknowledged a down performance.

During the filming of an interview for “God. Family. Football.”, a docuseries about Evangel Christian football, Kelly called Fulghum into the office of Eagles head coach Denny Duron with an opportunity.

“(Kelly) is like, ‘Look, I know you’re a legacy. We hadn’t really talked much, but we love Gabe. We love you. There are a few other players that we wish we could get, but it’s late,’” Fulghum said. “And he’s like, ‘You have a spot on our team anytime you want it.’”

An LSU legacy by way of both parents, Fulghum's father is Josh Booty, a former quarterback for the Tigers from 1999-2000. His mother, Sara Fulghum, was a Golden Girl for the football team during the same era.

Booty holds connections to programs across the country. Former Alabama quarterback Andrew Zow, an old SEC rival of Booty, is a senior offensive analyst for Clemson.

Zow got Fulghum to a camp at Clemson this past summer, allowing the unrated wide receiver an opportunity to talk with head coach Dabo Swinney and wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham.

“I love Clemson,” said Fulghum, who received a walk-on offer from Clemson on his recent visit. “I’m a devout Christian, and Coach Dabo is a huge Christian and being in that locker room and hearing all the stuff he says is awesome to me.”

Clemson is roughly a day’s trip from Shreveport, while LSU is three hours. Fulghum will find his clearer picture of which school is right for him after his official visits to LSU in the first weekend of January and Clemson in the second weekend.

Fulghum didn’t compete in the 7-on-7 circuit last offseason, giving his time to his high school baseball team as the shortstop and competing in track and field.

He felt that this move may have hindered his chances of getting on the radar of Clemson and LSU earlier, though.

“If I can go back, I would definitely change that,” Fulghum said.

Fulghum is still looking to garner exposure, playing in the U.S. Army Bowl next week alongside LSU quarterback commit Colin Hurley.

With this game taking up one of his upcoming weekends along with Christmas to follow, Fulghum pushed his official visits into January, closing the opportunity to enroll early at the school he commits to.

“Early enrollment has never been a thing that’s been on my mind just because I hadn't been highly recruited,” Fulghum said.

Fulghum is a twin. His brother, Peyton, played quarterback for Evangel Christian, throwing touchdown passes to Parker this past season.

Although receiving FCS offers to play quarterback, Peyton’s calling is on the diamond. The first baseman is picking up steam with Baylor, Texas Tech and Oklahoma as well as junior college programs.

“I’m not sure exactly where he’s going to go yet, but he’s going to play baseball somewhere,” Parker said.