Maxpreps 2020-21 Male Athlete of the Year and Milton (Ga.) Star defensive lineman Lebbeus Overton says it has come down to the confidence of academics and coaching staff. The country’s 18th senior football recruit announced his commitment to Texas A&M to a live ESPN2 television viewer on Friday. Maxpreps Male Athlete of the Year is an amazing honor that is well deserved.
The country’s top recruiting class, considered one of the best in history, has gotten better and more profound.
After thanking God, his parents, trainers, teachers, and friends, the 6-foot-5, 265-pound defensive end wore a Texas A&M straw hat to seal the deal.
“It comes down to the academics first and then the relationship with the coach – trust, honesty, and commitment – and a good defensive scheme. I think Texas A&M offers all of these things,” Overton said.
It was supposed to be the last few months of Overton’s junior year in Milton but he was reclassified to senior status on 3 February. He recently joined the other five-star J.T. Daniels and Queen Years will miss their senior season.
Overton, nicknamed “L.T.,” has descended the ladder to 2022 from No. 3 in Class 2023 by 247Sports, but his ranking is of little importance to him. Overton, a 4.0 student who takes AP classes, can make an immediate impact wherever he goes, just as he did in high school.
“He’s one of the scariest and most defensive linemen we’ve seen in high school football in decades,” said Jack Puff, editor of Maxpreps Football.
Born in College Station, Texas, Overton actually started playing high school football as an eighth-grader at Bessemer Academy (Bessemer, Ala.), Where he recorded 57 tackles and six sacks. As a freshman at Bessemer Academy, he collected 105 tackles (42 to lose) and 19 sacks in 13 games to earn first-team MaxPreps Freshman All-American honors.
As a Sophomore, his family moved to Georgia where he played in the highest division against some of the most competitive teams in the country. It failed to phase out the then-15-year-old, winning the best Maxpreps sophomore of the year in 2020 with 70 tackles, 38 losses, and 21.5 sacks for Milton (11-1). He also forced six fumbles.
It was imposing as the epidemic wiped out all football in the spring of 2020, so his first days with Milton were at the end of the summer. Milton coach Adam Clack was more impressed with Overton’s football IQ than his physical prowess, which is enough. His mother Eunice Thomas (volleyball in Kentucky) and father Milton Overton (football in Oklahoma) were both Divisions I athletes.
“Nothing gets through to him,” Clark said.
His physical equipment was displayed on the basketball court in 2020-21, where he started at the center for Milton’s 28-3 state championship team. He averaged 12 points and 12 rebounds per game, earning him the all-time honorary mention honor for the country’s No. 7 team.
The combination of football and basketball made him join Dorial Green-Beckham in 2009-10, only once as a sophomore. Other past winners include Patrick Mahomes, Kyler Murray, and Jalen Sags.
Injuries disrupted his junior season. In 11 games, he had 54 tackles and 7.5 sacks. Overton again played basketball as a junior and although his team only went 22-8, he won the first team All-Region.
According to Zimbo Fisher and Texas A&M 247Sports, including Overton, the 2022 class landed eight five-star prospects to combine the best-recruiting classes in history according to 247Sports.
“It’s exciting,” Overton told 247 Sports. “I like to run it because I have the best relationship with their coaches and get in touch with the players, meet the people in the program and see how the players are and the defensive scheme they run.
“It’s a great feeling to be back in town and be a part of it.
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