FAYETTEVILLE — The second in a series profiling new additions for the Arkansas football team in 2010.
It’s about 40 miles of Louisiana bayou country from Galliano to River Ridge.
Luke Charpentier made that move as a freshman in high school, going from South Lafourche High School to River Ridge John Curtis, one of the most powerful football programs in Louisiana. The move paid off asCharpentier, after sitting out his sophomore year, emerged as a Division I college prospect.
“Every kid wants to play college football, and I thought I had good potential to do that,” said Charpentier, a 6-4, 315-pound lineman who signed with Arkansas. “I probably would have ended up at asmaller college in Louisiana. I wanted to put myself in good hands and go to a place that produces many college prospects every year. It all worked out just the way I wanted to.”
Charpentier spent his sophomore year working out, studying the John Curtis playbook and practicing from Monday through Thursday before watching his teammates play Friday night. By the time Charpentier was a junior, he was ready to play and stepped right into a starting position.
“He was a hard-working kid,” Patriots Coach J.T. Curtis said. “He bought into doing the things he needed to do to be successful. He competed every day. He didn’t say, ‘Well, I’m taking this day off.’ It would have been easy to become lackadaisical, but he never did.”
Charpentier came to his work ethic naturally. His father, Robert, was a longtime south Louisiana shrimper, and Charpentier used to work the boats as a summer job.
“My dad always told me when I was playing football, ‘You have something good right now. A lot of people wish they could be in your shoes,’ ” Charpentier said.
Arkansas was the first school to notice and offer Charpentier a scholarship. Charpentier said Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino said the Razorbacks liked that he was coming from a great high school program and thought it would give him an edge.
Charpentier orally committed to the Razorbacks in early November and stayed firm despite late pressure from schools such as SMU and Kentucky.
“The coaches kept up with me,” said Charpentier, already on Arkansas’ campus. “We had a good connection going on. The first visit I took to Arkansas, I really liked it up here. I felt more at home on campus with the coaches.”
Charpentier played tackle for the Patriots but projects as a guard or center for the Razorbacks. If it takes him a year to adjust, Charpentier has experience doing that.
“I expect they probably will [redshirt him] but that’s not going to stop me from going out in camp and trying to prove myself,” Charpentier said.
Just like Charpentier’s plan to gain exposure and experience at River Ridge. The decision wasn’t popular with everyone in his family, especially his grandfather, Roland Boudreaux, a former assistant football coach at South Lafourche.
Boudreaux, who died in October, at first told Charpentier that the move was a mistake he would regret, but Charpentier said his grandfather changed his mind after attending some John Curtis practices.
“He told me it was like a college team,” Charpentier said. “It all ended up just right. No one wants to sit out a year, but I had two really good years playing football at Curtis.”Luke Charpentier at a glance POSITION Offensive lineman HIGH SCHOOL River Ridge (La.) John Curtis HEIGHT 6-4 WEIGHT 315 pounds 40-YARD DASH 5.1 seconds NOTEWORTHY Was a two-year starter for the Patriots after transferring from South Lafouche. ... Second cousin is former NFL quarterback Bobby Hebert. ... Helped John Curtis generate 4,912 yards of total offense.
Sports, Pages 17 on 06/29/2010