Denton Guyer Triple Threat Commits

It is a bit of a stretch to call Luke Russell the next Kordell Stewart considering he'll never play quarterback at the college level, but the Denton Guyer senior-to-be is Guyer's version of a triple threat.

And now he's orally committed to UNLV, according to the Denton Record-Chronicle. Oral commitments are non-binding. The first day a recruit can sign a national letter of intent is Feb. 3.

When he started his career in Lake Dallas, Russell was a quarterback. But when he moved to Guyer, the cards were dealt that he would be a receiver, and entering last season, Russell was set to be the Wildcats' top receiving threat.

That was before the injury to starting quarterback J.W. Walsh, which sidelined the sophomore for six games and severely hampered the Wildcats' passing attack, limiting it to short-range passes and taking away the deep passing game where Russell excels.

Once Walsh returned, however, Russell caught fire, catching 221 yards worth of balls in Guyer's second-round playoff win over Arlington Seguin. He followed that with a big rushing day against Abilene Cooper, when he rushed for two touchdowns out of the Wildcat formation after Walsh went down with a mild injury. Then, in the Wildcats' final two games of the year, Russell showed his best with two 100-yard receiving games and a touchdown in Guyer's state semifinal loss to Longview.

Head coach John Walsh said he fully expects Russell to pick up where he left off last season, and more.

"We had a good spring with him," Walsh said. "He catches everything thrown. He's gotten stronger and faster. Whatever weapon he was at the end of last season, we expect that to be magnified from start to finish this year."