Football

Dalen Powell has felt back to his normal self for months now, and on Friday received an official LSU stamp of approval.

Ruston’s rising junior running back, one of Louisiana’s breakout stars this fall, has been recovering from a broken ankle that sidelined him the week before the playoffs in November.

And the home-state Tigers became the latest program to join his exploding list of college offers when running backs coach Kevin Smith visited the Bearcats’ spring practice.

“They initially spoke with coach (Jerrod) Baugh, and coach Kevin Smith was basically saying they wanted to see how I recovered,” Powell said. “He noticed that I was back and looked good… It felt great. I was excited to get the offer. It was kind of special being that it’s the home-state school, but all my offers are special to me.”

Louisiana Tech, Grambling State, Houston and Baylor all offered during the season, and the injury hasn’t seemed to slow down his recruiting process at all as Kentucky, Arkansas, Florida, South Alabama, Syracuse, Florida State, USC, Nebraska, West Virginia, Ole Miss and now LSU have all followed.

Powell has looked just fine on the field, as well, running confidently into traffic between the tackles and cutting by defenders in the open field Monday during a Louisiana vs. All Y’all practice visit.

“He made a ton of plays for us while he was out there — not just at running back, but in the kicking game returning punts and kickoffs,” Baugh said. “Sometimes kids come back particularly from a broken leg or some kind of knee injury and they’re kind of timid about running the football. I haven’t seen that from him, and that’s probably got to do with he came back about halfway through baseball season, and so this is not really the first thing that he’s getting back doing. So he had to get back comfortable with what he’s doing, and I don’t see any effects from the broken leg at all. I expect for him to do more of the same next year with the football.”

Powell said he was fully cleared “pretty quick,” about two or three months after the injury.

He said the mental strain of having his great season halted and not being able to help his teammates in the postseason was the biggest challenge and that, while returning to running this spring felt “kinda weird” at first after the long layoff, he quickly felt back to his normal shortly after getting back into action.

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound athlete, who debuted last summer as a top-five overall prospect in Louisiana vs. All Y’all’s 2028 class rankings, smiled and said he wasn’t surprised to have had the big sophomore season and that he knew once he earned the opportunity for snaps he would be productive.

“He’s a good running back — I can’t lie,” smiled highly ranked 2028 Ruston linebacker Shamar Evans, who moved back from Mississippi this offseason. “He’s good for sure. Some of the best talent I have seen, because you know I have played against some talent. If you know Ty Keys, the (Poplarville), Mississippi running back (committed to Miami), he’s pretty good and shifty. Dalen, he’s just like him, but Dalen’s more downhill with it. That’s why I also say it feels like I’m playing on a college level, because you’ve got all these top-tier recruits here.”

Powell’s biggest lesson from the year actually came in particular from dealing with the adversity of the injury.

“Every chance you get, work hard, and everything you do, do it with a purpose — take it as a chance to get better,” he said.

Powell admitted the college offers have indeed started to arrive more quickly than he anticipated with still months before coaches can contact him more directly and consistently.

“Really they like the way I run and my athleticism and how I’m able to do more, like you said, more than running — my versatility, basically,” he said the college coaches he has heard from have shared.

Powell will likely make a trip to Baton Rouge in the months ahead and looks forward to seeing how the Tigers’ offense looks under new coach Lane Kiffin and a revamped staff, but said he still hasn’t delved into scheduling camps or visits.

“The backs are going to be a big part of their offense this year,” he said Smith shared. “But they are still going to spread the ball out.”

Newly LSU-committed tight end Ahmad Hudson, his rising senior teammate, was quick to post a “Cmon home brudda”recruiting pitch via Twitter shortly after the offer was reported.

[ READ MORE: AHMAD HUDSON COULDN’T WAIT ANY LONGER TO COMMIT TO HOME-STATE LSU ]

The Tigers have a strong recent track record of recruiting the Bearcats with signings for defensive lineman Ahmad Breaux in 2024 and cornerback Aidan Anding in 2025 and now a 2027 commitment from Hudson, along with strong positioning for 2027 safety Jayden Anding and an early move on Powell.

The young back is more focused at the moment on Ruston’s pursuit this year of a fifth straight trip to a state championship and first crown since 2023.

“We know that we should be back — that’s the expectation,” he said. “But we know we’ve got to still work for it, but that’s the expectation around here that we’re built for a few years now.”

Powell would figure to be a major focal point in achieving those goals.

And his all-around versatility and ability as a pass-catcher paired with his teammates rising to the occasion in his absence and proving themselves opens the door to some different packages the Bearcats may not have used as much this past fall.

“To me what he brings to the table, though, is he’s a great receiver out of the backfield,” Baugh said. “I thought Kohl Gray did a great job for us during the playoff run after Dalen was hurt, so we’ll have the opportunity to move Dalen and split him out and have Kohl in there, have both running backs in there at the same time and probably do some two-back stuff out of the gun with those two just to give another dynamic of the offense. It’s nice to have all of those options to be able to do things with, and for sure Dalen will be a big part of that.”