In college football, not every player is built to play in a Power 5 Conference. Even if the prospect has a high recruiting rank, it doesn't guarantee success. Dual-threat quarterback Lowell Narcisse certainly found that out the hard way.
A 6-foot-2 dual-threat quarterback, Narcisse was a star in St. James, Louisiana, earning a consensus four-star tag and ranking as high as No. 105 in the country by ESPN in 2017. He missed his entire senior season due to a knee injury, but he still held several high-major offers and decided to keep his talent near home to play for the LSU Tigers.
After a redshirt season, one to build him for the future in Baton Rouge, the quarterback room got a little crammed when Ohio State transfer Joe Burrow came to town. That led to his transfer to Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and a year to find his next chance to start at a Division I school.
Narcisse found just that and signed to play under former LSU assistant Frank Wilson, who is now the head coach of the Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners.
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Much like former Alabama quarterback Blake Barnett did at South Florida, Narcisse left the SEC in hopes to hit the reset button.
However, that's much easier said than done.
In his lone year at Mississippi Gulf Coast CC last season, the former LSU quarterback completed less than 45 percent of his passes in throwing for 508 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions, while adding 192 rushing yards and another six scores. But the left-handed quarterback lost his starting job during the junior college season and saw limited playing time.
Narcisse will have some competition. After all, UTSA had seven quarterbacks on the roster this season and signed both Narcisse and Midland's Suddin Sapien during the Early Signing Period. Not all will be on the team in 2019, but the job will not be handed to him.
"I've known him since he was a freshman in high school and so it was bigger than what he just did at Mississippi Gulf Coast. He was the No. 4 or No. 5 dual-threat quarterback in America coming out of high school and was in a heated recruiting battle with Clemson, Florida State, and you name who when he came out. I think he's a guy who has the mental capacity and the wherewithal to compete at a very high level. I think he's a very talented young man with arm talent and hand talent. I think he gives you a body type that's able to sustain the rigors of a season. I'm excited to have Lowell." — UTSA football head coach Frank Wilson
Only time will tell what might happen in 2019, but Narcisse has found a new home at the University of Texas at San Antoinion with the hopes to find the success he once thought he'd have at LSU.
