The second portal period is underway in college football and Florida Atlantic has landed their first commitment of the spring portal period. On Saturday afternoon former Tulane defensive lineman Deshaun Batiste announced his commitment to FAU, becoming the 8th addition to the defensive line this offseason.
The 6’2 262 pound New Orleans native is a rising redshirt sophomore and spent last season in Uptown, where he recorded 10 tackles, a half of a sack and a forced fumble, playing in 7 total games including the Green Wave’s bowl game against Florida. Prior to Tulane, Batiste played his freshman season at Troy for Jon Sumrall where prior to redshirting he played in 3 games and recorded 8 tackles.
Batiste committed to Sumrall and Troy following a dominant High School career at Kennedy High School in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he was a 3 star and earned 2 MVP and Defensive player of the year awards in his 4 years, also recording 40 sacks across his junior and senior seasons. It wasn’t just Football for Batiste, as outside of playing DE/OLB at Kennedy, he was also a Power Forward for the School’s varsity basketball team as well.
Coming out of High School, Batiste was viewed as a special player and his High School coach Lynaris Elpheage recognized that, having spent time in the NFL while also being an All-American during his collegiate career at Tulane in his own right and Elpheage says that Batiste has all the tools necessary to be an impact player.
“He’s one of those generational talents, best of both worlds, great academically and athletically, he’s one of those kids you get once in a lifetime,” Elpheage said in an interview with Crescent City Sports following Batiste’s High School commitment.
After redshirting his freshman year at Troy, Batiste followed Sumrall to Tulane where he earned a rotational role in the D-Line room, a room which was one of Tulane’s biggest defensive strengths. Due to a stacked depth chart in the room, Batiste’s role wasn’t able to blossom into a consistent one, which led to him entering the transfer portal this offseason.
Batiste had multiple schools interested in his services during this round of the transfer portal, however he recently took a visit to FAU and described it as, “one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen,” leading this commitment to be a relatively easy decision for Batiste.
“It’s an amazing place to be, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. The staff was very welcoming and very straightforward about what they want. And I loved that,” Batiste said in an exclusive to FAU Owls Nest.
Paradise has been able to win over recruits across the board for years at FAU, however heading into his redshirt sophomore season Batiste needed to find a school where he fit into the system and could continue his development in a larger role than what he received last season. Defensive Coordinator Brett Dewhurst has spoken this offseason about his player friendly scheme, which will have multiple defensive looks and give opportunities across the board for players to earn playing time.
Although the views of Boca Raton helped seal the deal, according to Batiste the scheme that Coach Dewhurst plans on running this season was ideal for him, noting that it will give him a “great chance to showcase his talents.”
“I feel like the scheme that’s being ran here gives me a great chance to showcase my talent. It was just overall a great visit, and I can’t wait to come in and do great things,” Batiste said in an exclusive to FAU Owls Nest.
Batiste will look to earn a role throughout the summer and Fall Camp and he joins a D-Line room which has seen 2 contributors depart this Spring in August Salvati and Chisom Ifeanyi, so there will be an opportunity for Batiste right away.
Rick Henderson contributed to this report