FRANKLIN — Not even a global pandemic could slow down the recruitment of Franklin’s Gharin Stansbury.

The Hornets’ 6-foot-5, 220-pound outside linebacker didn’t get his first scholarship offer to play football until this February. But in the three-plus months since that first offer from the Kansas Jayhawks, Stansbury has been piling up offers from more than a dozen schools — all despite not having in-person visits from coaches or official on-campus visits due to COVID-19.

“It’s been a pretty good feeling,” Stansbury said. “It means that all the hard work is starting to pay off.”

Stansbury has been on college recruiters’ radars for a few seasons.

In the past two seasons, the Hornets pass rusher has earned back-to-back District 7-2A first-team honors and earned Class 2A All-State honorable mention honors as a sophomore when he helped the team to the state quarterfinals. This past season Stansbury recorded 89 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss, 10 sacks, four pass breakups, and four forced fumbles as the Hornets earned another playoff berth.

“Gharin Stansbury is the highest-ranked prospect to come out of Franklin since his brother Gavin signed with Texas A&M in 2010 and one of the best in the Hornets’ history,” Tiger Details’ Jerit Roser said. “His length and quickness off the edge make him a nightmare for opposing quarterbacks. And as he continues to work on rounding out his game, he has a chance to become one of the steals of Louisiana’s 2021 class.”

“Gharin brings a lot more to the team than just playing defense,” Franklin head coach Tremayne Johnson said. “He has stepped up big in a leadership role since his sophomore year. He has that first-person-there and last-person-to-leave mentality.”

As productive as Stansbury has been on and off the field for the Hornets the past two seasons, the time spent two summers ago may have really put Stansbury on recruiter’s initial radar.

“I went to camps all that summer,” Stansbury said. “I went to Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, LSU and UL camps. It was really fun because of the level of competition. I was able to learn from different coaches and it truly helped me develop as a player.”

Stansbury enters the summer before his senior season ranked as a three-star prospect from both 247Sports and Rivals.com. He holds 15 scholarship offers including from several in-state schools such as Northwestern State, McNeese State, Southern University, Grambling State, Tulane and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. In addition to the interest from Louisiana schools, Stansbury has received offers from the University of Houston, South Alabama, Nevada and three from Power 5 Conferences with Kansas of the Big 12, Indiana of the Big 10 and Arizona State of the PAC 12.

“Kansas, SMU and most of the programs around Louisiana were among the first to extend scholarship offers, but Gharin’s list of options may be on the verge of expanding rapidly,” Roser said. “Houston, South Alabama and Arizona State have all offered in the past couple of weeks. Ole Miss and TCU were among the visits he was able to sneak in earlier this spring before COVID-19 shut down further in-person opportunities, and his stock appears on the rise with Power 5 schools as recruiting boards start to come into clearer focus for coaching staffs around the country.”

With no in-person visits, all of his recruiting has been done electronically with video conference calls with coaches and virtual tours of campuses. So what has that experience been like for Stansbury? A blessing for sure but also one that leaves the Hornet pass rusher wanting more.

“Everything has been through Zoom,” Stansbury said. “The coaches will talk to you and then play a virtual tour of the campus through the camera. It has been great but I can’t wait until they start letting kids and recruits back on campus. I don’t know when that’s going to be but I can’t wait for that moment.”

Stansbury picked up a recent offer from Arizona State which features a staff of two former NFL head coaches in Herm Edwards and Marvin Lewis and an assistant coach in former LSU star Kevin Mawae who has been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That pedigree has not been lost on Stansbury.

“It was an honor to get an offer from Arizona State,” Stansbury said. “I know the coaches and their NFL experience and it says a lot that they want me to come there and be coached by them.”

In addition to COVID-19 shutting down in-person recruiting, the pandemic has also taken away spring football from high school teams. So how has Stansbury remained focused and sharp during the past few months?

“I have been training on my own and working out on my own,” Stansbury said. “I wouldn’t say that it has been tough but mentally it has shown me where I am at. I know that I have to be more focused. I can’t lose step at all. Football is going to ramp right back up and I don’t want to be behind at all.”