Ole Miss football commit Kamarion Franklin has big goals for senior season
For most highly recruited high school athletes throughout the country, singing your own praises in order to be recognized universally as a stud is just apart of the shtick. Not to Lake Cormorant football's Kamarion Franklin. He lets his game do the talking.
And it speaks volumes.
"You wouldn't think by the way he operates in the classroom or with his teammates in the locker room that he's the best player in the state," Lake Cormorant coach Nick Nester said. "He doesn't flaunt or brag about that stuff at all, truthfully."
"He's just an angel to be around and a positive influence for his teammates. He shows up to practice and does everything he can to get the most out of himself each and every day."
Franklin is No. 1 in the Clarion Ledger's 2023 Dandy Dozen, a collection of the 12 best college football recruits in Mississippi for the class of 2024 as picked by the newspaper. The 6-foot-5, 265-pound four-star recruit is the No. 1 prospect in Mississippi, according to the 247Sports Composite. He's the No. 8 defensive lineman in the nation.
On Saturday, Franklin committed to Ole Miss. He is coach Lane Kiffin's highest-rated recruit for the Rebels' 2024 recruiting class.
"They’ve been recruiting me the longest since my sophomore year," Franklin said of Ole Miss. "It’s just good to stay home and just put on for my state; I want to put my state on notice. I want to let other good (players) know you don’t have to leave the state to be great."
Franklin recorded 93 total tackles, 19 sacks, 22 tackles for loss, a touchdown and blocked three kicks en route to being voted Mississippi 5A Defensive Player of the Year in 2022. In the very first game of his 2022 season against Lewisburg, Franklin recorded nine tackles, five sacks and a forced fumble which he returned 41 yards for a touchdown.
His 19 sacks in 2022 set Lake Cormorant's new single-season sack record — an achievement he believes is just scratching the surface of what he knows can do.
"I really want to break that new record and get to almost 30 sacks this year," Franklin said. "To be honest I want to break that as well as my single game sack record and the career sack record at Lake Cormorant. Just for me, I want to be able to say I did all of that."
In his freshman year, Franklin initially played running back and made the switch to defensive line in the last game of the season. Fast forward two years later, and the rest is history.
"My coaches told me to get a few reps on the edge and on the first play I got a sack," Franklin said. "Ever since then they were like 'Yeah you're going to be on the line now'. At first I was kind of hesitant about it, but you know, it's really worked in my favor."
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Since Lake Cormorant opened its school doors in 2010, they have yet to compete for a MHSAA 5A state championship. Franklin is determined to make even more history in his final year with the Gators.
"The fact that Lake Cormorant hasn't ever won a state championship is what is really driving me this year. The accolades are cool and all but I want to win. Not just for me, but for my school, teammates, coaches and the city."
Jordan Davis is a sports writing intern for the Mississippi Clarion Ledger. Contact him at jcdavis@gannett.com or on X, formerly knows as Twitter @JDavis34_.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ole Miss football recruiting: Top recruit Kamarion Franklin has big goals
