The Westgate High football team with signees in front row and coaches in back row.

Westgate High School celebrated nine athletes as they signed college letters of intent on National Signing Day.

Tight End Danny Lewis, who received offers from LSU, Florida, and Alabama, waited to announce his decision until Wednesday. After much speculation, and a video with LSU coach Brian Kelly that received millions of views on Twitter, Lewis decided to commit to the University of Alabama.

Lewis said that his decision to play for Alabama came down to the quality of the team.

“I feel like it was the best decision for me, because I know that everyday I’ll go out and compete with the best of the best,” Lewis said. “The thing that put (Alabama) over the top was that I could be the first from my school to ever have a shot at a national championship.”

Lewis said he has worked hard to get to this position, and that his relationship with Alabama coach Nick Saban is good.

“It was very challenging… I worked hard, during quarantine, I just took my chance,” he said. “Me and Coach Saban have a really good relationship. He took a lot of time to come visit me.”

Jordan Doucet signed with Southeastern Louisiana in the early signing period in December. The complete list of WHS signees:

Ashton Francis – Tyler Junior College

Bradley Lewis – Grambling State University

Camron Spencer – Tyler Junior College

Carson Romero – Louisiana Christian Community College

Danny Lewis – University of Alabama

Henry Binion – Southern University at Shreveport

Jordan Doucet – Southeastern Louisiana University

Steven Antoine – Tyler Junior College

Zyion Madison – Southern University at Shreveport

Ryan Antoine, head coach at Westgate, said his job as a coach is to provide the best opportunities for his players.

“That’s what it’s all about, that’s our job as coaches,” Antoine said. “When a kid comes to us and gives us everything that he has every single night and tells us ‘Coach, I want to play ball at the next level’, I feel that it’s our obligation to give those kids an opportunity to do it. We want our kids to grow and get better and have something to compare New Iberia to. It’s a win for these kids to go to college, get an education, be able to help their families out, and also be able to play ball.”

Numerous signees have continued to be multi-sport athletes. Lewis plays basketball this season, and Jordan Doucet runs track.

“Danny Lewis was flying all over the court last night in a basketball game and he has to make the biggest decision of his life on the next day, so it just goes to show what we’re trying to build for these kids,” Antoine said. “It’s all about T-E-A-M and leaving things better than you found it.”

Antoine added that the current group of players are an inspiration to the younger generation.

“For all those younger kids to see Danny Lewis, who is going to Alabama, Ashton Lewis, who is an autistic kid, they know that no matter what kind of issues you have or disabilities, you have an opportunity and you can play here,” the coach said.

When Doucet signed with SLU on Early Signing Day, only a handful of other players had received offers to play college football. Antoine said that his coaching staff went to work to promote their seniors to coaches.

“It’s just non stop selling our kids to coaches and letting coaches know what kind of program we have,” Antoine said. “The biggest thing is that our kids went out there and won the state championship and put the world on notice that we play good football down in the little country town of New Iberia. We want to let our kids dream, and today was an opportunity to show that dreams do come true for a lot of these guys.”