All eyes on me: Westgate’s Jaboree Antoine is enjoying football and the spotlight ahead of ‘23 season
Published 8:00 am Thursday, June 15, 2023
Some football players enjoy flying under the radar, with nobody putting any pressure on them and no fear of failure to worry about on Friday night.
Westgate’s Jaboree Antoine sees it a different way.
As one of the highest-ranked recruiting prospects in his class, Antoine is relishing both the attention and the pressure that it brings.
Antoine is the No. 1 ranked player in Louisiana for his class, according to 247 Sports, and the No. 2 prospect in the state for Rivals, On3 and ESPN.
“I’m enjoying it,” Antoine said about the attention he is receiving from colleges. “I’ve been working my whole life for this so I’m here now to show everyone what I’m all about.”
Antoine said that he has been after a No. 1 ranking throughout his football career but isn’t going to take a break now that he has achieved it.
“I’m working harder now,” he said. “I know that everyone else is working hard to get to that No. 1 spot so I’m still working, no matter what. I don’t see anyone better than me in the country.”
Antoine has several offers already, several of which have come from the most successful programs in college football. Antoine said that his Top-5 so far are Texas, Miami, Alabama, Tennessee and Michigan.
Antoine is primarily a defensive back and will be the first to tell you that DB is his most comfortable position. Last season, his coaches threw the then-sophomore in as quarterback when no other options presented themselves.
Antoine took the opportunity and ran with it, growing into one of the top QBs in the area. He also used his newfound understanding of the game to grow as a defender, using his knowledge of the offense to make himself even more dangerous on defense.
“It definitely helped me on defense, knowing what the quarterback is going to do,” Antoine explained.
“I’m feeling much better (at both positions) now that I’m really getting the respect that I deserve. I just want to come in and make everyone else better and progress like we should to win a state championship.”
This season will bring much of the same for Antoine as he will be expected to pull double duty once again. For Antoine, the key to a successful season will be making sure that he is conditioned well enough to handle playing so many minutes each game.
“I need to make sure that I condition myself as much as possible,” he said. “I’m going to be playing on both sides of the ball so I need to make sure that I’m ready and that I help everyone else get right too.”
Westgate’s offense lost several receivers last season, but Antoine said his connection with his younger teammates from their years spent playing football together will allow him to still be successful on offense.
“I’ve been playing with most of them since pee-wee, so we should be good,” Antoine said. “There’s definitely a lot of trust.”
As for his own goals for the upcoming season, Antoine’s attention is on making another trip to the Superdome.
“I just want to be better than I was last year and win a state championship.”