Louisiana loves LaMarcus Morton.

The Warhawks football program at Louisiana-Monroe became the fifth to offer the Gilmer receiver and the third straight school from Sportsman's Paradise by way of a college scholarship opportunity presented Thursday.

Morton (6-2, 175) confirmed the news to ETSN.fm

The Gilmer prospect also holds offers from Louisiana-Lafayette and McNeese State as well as other standing invitations to Arkansas State and Tulsa following a breakout junior campaign. He caught for 589 yards and seven touchdowns on just 34 receptions.

Gilmer's ball distribution was wild last season with 17 receivers on the team catching at least one pass. Of those 17 players, 10 receivers caught for at least 100 yards while the offense put up an additional 3,158 rushing yards en route to the Class 4A Division II state semifinals.

Morton led all of GIlmer's receivers by 118 yards in his first season as a full-time varsity player, and some of the other receivers from the team will graduate high school in May. There's potential for an even bigger individual campaign as a senior.

ULM entered the picture with a new head coach. Matt Viator joined the program in December on the heels of guiding McNeese State to a 10-0 regular season record, a Southland Conference championship and an FCS playoffs appearance last season.

Viator posted an overall record of 78-33 in his 10 seasons as McNeese State -- including a 54-18 mark in the Southland -- and won the conference title a total of four times.

The Warhawks, by contrast, have endured several rough years after a solid 2012 campaign. In that year, the team upset Arkansas and battled Auburn and Baylor tightly to open the year on the way to an Independence Bowl appearance under former head coach Todd Berry.

Berry was fired late last season after 6-6 and 4-8 followups to 2012 plus a 1-9 start to the 2015 season.

ULM joined the FBS ranks in 1994 as an independent and joined its current league, the Sunbelt Conference, in 2001. It will be seeking a second bowl appearance in its 22nd season at the premiere level of college football.

The Warhawks have been successful recruiting East Texas in recent years. Former Canton standouts Chandler Eiland and Sam Miller most recently signed with the program in 2015.

With Eiland and Miller in the fold, ULM's 2016 non-conference schedule is headlined by road games to Auburn and Oklahoma. Future Warhawks can look forward to games at Auburn and at Texas A&M in upcoming seasons plus Sunbelt competition on a year-by-year basis.

Morton can verbally commit to any program that offers him immediately, but he will not become eligible to sign with a school until Feb. 1, 2017 per NCAA rules.

2017 East Texas Football Players With Division I FBS Offers

  • Judah Bell, Tyler Bishop Gorman, WR, 6-3, 180 — offers from Bowling Green, Houston, SMU, ULL (4)
  • Lagaryonn Carson, Liberty-Eylau, DE, 6-4, 261 — committed to Texas; additional offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, North Texas, Oklahoma, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M (9)
  • Trestan Ebner, Henderson, WR, 5-11, 180 — committed to SMU; additional offers from Arkansas, Kansas (3)
  • Montrell Estell, Hooks, WR, 6-2, 180 — offers from Arizona State, Arkansas, Kansas, Notre Dame, SMU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas State, Texas Tech, Tulane (10)
  • Octavius Evans, Center, WR, 6-2, 186 — offers from Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Texas State, ULL (6)
  • Jordan Johnson, Hooks, ATH, 6-0, 195 — offer from Air Force (1)
  • Kayce Medlock, Arp, ATH, 5-9, 186 — offers from SMU, Tulane, ULL (3)
  • Damion Miller, John Tyler, WR, 6-1, 189 — committed to Texas; additional offers from Houston, Kansas, North Texas, Oklahoma State; Ole Miss; SMU, Texas A&M, Texas Tech (9)
  • LaMarcus Morton, Gilmer, WR, 6-2, 175 — offer from Arkansas State, Tulsa, ULL, ULM (4)
  • Javontavius Mosley, John Tyler, CB, 6-1, 170 — offers from Houston, SMU, Texas State, ULL, UTSA (5)
  • Bryson Smith, John Tyler, ATH, 5-11, 160 — offers from Bowling Green, Houston, New Mexico, North Texas, SMU, Texas State, ULL (7)
  • Major Tennison, Bullard, TE, 6-6, 248 — committed to Texas; additional offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, SMU, Texas Tech (9)
  • Josh Thompson, Nacogdoches, CB, 6-0, 180 — offered by SMU (1)

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