The MaxPreps 2020-21 Male Athlete of the Year and star defensive lineman
Lebbeus Overton of
Milton (Ga.) said it came down to academics and a trust with a coaching staff. The nation's No. 18 senior football recruit announced his commitment to Texas A&M on Friday to a live ESPN2 television audience.
The nation's top recruiting class, considered one of the best in history, just got better and deeper.
After thanking God, his parents, coaches, teachers and friends, the 6-foot-5, 265-pound defensive end put on a Texas A&M straw hat to seal the deal.
"It first came down to academics and then building relationships with coaches — trust, honesty and commitment — and a good defensive scheme. I think Texas A&M offers all those things," Overton said.
This was supposed to be the final few months of Overton's junior year at Milton but he reclassified to senior status Feb. 3. He joined the likes of other recent five-star recruits
J.T. Daniels and
Quinn Ewers to skip their senior seasons.
Overton, nicknamed "L.T.," went from the No. 3 recruit in the Class of 2023 by
247Sports to down the ladder of 2022, but his ranking matters little to him. Overton, a 4.0 student who takes AP classes, figures to make an immediate impact wherever he goes, just like he did in high school.
Lebbeus Overton had 54 sacks during his illustrious prep career.
File photo by Will Fagan
"He's one of the scariest and best defensive linemen we've seen in high school football over the last decade," MaxPreps football editor Zack Poff said.
Born in College Station, Texas, Overton actually started playing high school football as an eighth-grader at Bessemer Academy (Bessemer, Ala.), where he recorded 57 tackles and six sacks. As a freshman at Bessemer Academy, he piled up 105 tackles (42 for loss) and 19 sacks in 13 games to earn first-team MaxPreps Freshman All-American honors.
As a sophomore, his family moved to Georgia where he played in the highest classification against some of the most competitive teams in the country. It didn't phase the then-15-year-old, earning
MaxPreps Sophomore of the Year in 2020 with 70 tackles, 38 for loss and 21.5 sacks for Milton (11-1). He also forced six fumbles.
It was especially impressive because the pandemic wiped out all of spring 2020 football, so his first days with Milton were late in the summer. Milton coach Adam Clack was more impressed with Overton's football IQ than his physical prowess, which is considerable. His mother Eunice Thomas (volleyball at Kentucky) and father Milton Overton (football at Oklahoma) were both Division I athletes.
Lebbeus Overton had 286 career tackles over four seasons between two schools.
File photo by Ed Turlington
"Nothing gets by him," Clack said.
His physical tools were displayed further in 2020-21 on the basketball court, where he started at center for Milton's 28-3 state championship team. He averaged 12 points and 12 rebounds per game, which earned him all-state honorable mention honors for the nation's No. 7 team.
The combination of football and basketball earned him the elite distinction as overall national
Athlete of the Year, which had been done only once before by a sophomore, joining Dorial Green-Beckham in 2009-10. Other past winners include Patrick Mahomes, Kyler Murray and Jalen Suggs.
His junior season was hampered by injury. In 11 games, he had 54 tackles and 7.5 sacks. Overton played basketball again as a junior and though his team went only 22-8, he earned first team All-Region.
Including Overton, Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M have landed eight five-star prospects in the Class of 2022 en route to assembling one of the best recruiting classes in history, according to
247Sports.
"It's exciting," Overton told 247Sports. "Having the best relationship
with their coaches and getting the vibe with the players, meeting the
people in the program and seeing how the players are and the defensive
scheme they run is something I like to run.
"It's also a great feeling going back to my hometown and being part of that."
Lebbeus Overton helped Milton to a state basketball title in 2020-21.
File photo by Ed Turlington
