East Texas 25: No. 13 Javasia Brunson, DE, Lufkin

Lufkin’s Javasia Brunson is handling the recruiting process like most in his position: he’s grateful and understanding.

“It’s been good,” he said. “I’m still waiting on some (Power 5 schools) to offer but I’m being patient.”

Brunson (6-3, 235) already has a P5 offer from Oklahoma State, but the expectation is that more are on the way.

“Baylor, Arizona, Arkansas, and Texas still have me in the mix,” Brunson said.

The Lufkin pass-rusher checks in at No. 13 on ETSN.fm’s East Texas 25, a list of the area’s top recruits in the 2019 class.

In addition to Oklahoma State, Brunson has FBS offers from Memphis, Nevada, North Texas, SMU, South Florida, Southern Miss, Tulane, Tulsa, and UTEP.

Brunson, who has camped at Baylor, Texas Southern, and Texas A&M-Commerce, has already made several visits to college campuses. And he plans to make trips to several more.

He has visited Arkansas, Houston, Oklahoma State, SMU, Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas State. Brunson added that he hopes to see Memphis, Nevada, North Texas, and South Florida soon.

Despite all the recruiting attention, Brunson knows there is still room for improvement.

“My biggest strength is pass rushing, and I just need to improve on defeating double teams,” he said.

Brunson is a member of a loaded Lufkin team that includes several other Division I recruits — Breylon Garcia, Damond McKelvey, and Carl Williams in 2019, and Ja’Lynn Polk and Jerrin Thompson in the 2020 class.

“It’s great because I’m not the only one with offers,” Brunson said. “Plus we can all relate in the recruiting process and help the younger guys go through it.”

With so many returning impact players and Lufkin’s move down to Class 5A, expectations are sky-high for 2018. The Panthers were 11-3 last season, falling to arch-rival Longview in the 6A Division II quarterfinals.

“My expectations are for us this season to win state,” Brunson said. “Not because we’re dropping to 5A, it’s because we’re still upset on how we lost by one point in the fourth round. So we will be playing with a chip on our shoulder all season.”