Once a Tiger, Always a Tiger.

Dunham Tiger Derek Stingley, Jr., currently ranked as the nation’s No. 1 2019 recruit, verbally committed to LSU in a much-anticipated announcement via Twitter this afternoon.

An outstanding scholar as well as athlete, Derek earned Class 2A all-state honors last season as a junior with 64 tackles, 11 interceptions, and six pass break-ups. After receiving offers from collegiate football programs across the county, including Stanford, LSU, Florida, Alabama, Texas, and Georgia, he narrowed his choices last week to just three –Texas, Florida, and LSU—and promised to make a verbal commitment today, also his 17th birthday.

Announcing his decision in a video posted to Twitter, Derek said, “Success without dedication is nothing more than luck, and I don’t believe in luck. Dunham gave me the opportunity to play varsity as an eighth-grader, and I never looked back…Every Friday night was an opportunity to execute, to come through for my teammates."

Click here to watch Derek’s video announcement in full.