Stephen F. Austin kicked off what could be an exciting week of college football recruiting inside the region Sunday with a scholarship opportunity extended to D'Torian Smith.

The rising senior Tatum linebacker announced his offer from the Lumberjacks program through his Twitter account. He holds other Division I FCS offers from Lamar and Missouri State as well as FBS invitations from Air Force, Louisiana-Monroe and UTEP.

Smith (6-3, 225) was a bright spot for a winless Tatum team last season.

Tatum athletic director and head football coach Andy Evans retired from his coaching duties after the year concluded. Evans, who won two state championships and made a third title game appearance in 12 years at the school, will be an assistant athletic director going forward.

Craig Barker, formerly Kaufman’s head coach, was hired to replace Evans in February. Barker led Kaufman to the District 8-4A Division I championship last season and a third round playoff appearance.

Tatum was realigned to District 8-4A Division II in February. Its league is rounded out by Diboll, Huntington, Jasper and Rusk.

Second-year coach Clint Conque guided Stephen F. Austin to a 4-7 record last season, but the team seemed to turn a corner at the midway mark of the campaign by winning four of its final six games toward a 4-5 Southland Conference record.

One of the 'Jacks losses came against TCU, which was the No. 3 team nationally in the FBS at the time.

Conque guided the program to an FCS playoff appearance in 2014.

Stephen F. Austin successfully landed Brownsboro athlete Tamrick Pace, Tyler Lee quarterback Zach Hall and Nacogdoches receiver Alex Gregory last February. Pittsburg linebacker Fre’Zarian Harrison committed to the program as a late addition in April.

The program has a bevy of offers out for local seniors alongside Smith.

Safety was the big priority for Stephen F. Austin last week. It offered Gilmer safety Kollin Hurt, Longview safety Traveion Webster and Tyler Lee safety Makyle Sanders in the days leading up to it approaching Smith.

All of the aforementioned prospects, more than 30 other local players with at least one Division I offer plus currently unrecruited players can make a splash later this week.

East Texas Baptist University and Southern Miss will host a joint football evaluation camp together Wednesday at Gilmer High School at 9 a.m. ahead of Texas Tech putting on a camp of its own at Longview High School beginning at 5:30 p.m.

East Texas Baptist University and Southern Miss will migrate to Pleasant Grove High School later Wednesday for a second camp at 5 p.m.

North Texas, TCU and SMU visited the region for camps last week. That could translate into more offers for players once those coaching staffs get home and weigh the prospects they saw in East Texas against other players from across the state.

Smith, like all senior high school football players across the nation, will become eligible to sign with any school that offers him on Feb. 1, 2017.

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