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JUCO offensive tackle Luke Haggard commits to Indiana

California junior college offensive tackle Luke Haggard has committed to Indiana with the intent to sign.

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@lukeduke150/Twitter.com
@lukeduke150/Twitter.com

California junior college offensive tackle Luke Haggard has chosen to spend his final two years of eligibility in Bloomington, as he announced that he has committed to Indiana and will sign with the Hoosiers.

The JUCO product visited Indiana and Connecticut officially the weekend before the Early Signing Period and had offers from Fresno State, Nevada, San Jose State and Oregon State with some interest from UCLA and Arizona State as well. But he decided on Indiana after meeting the staff.

“I just really fell in love with the school, and it was my goal coming out of the JC to play big-time football," Haggard told TheHoosier.com. "On top of that, I just really liked the coaches and the players.”

Haggard graduated from Petaluma High School in 2018 but only had offers from Western Oregon and Humboldt State, so he went the junior college route at Santa Rosa Junior College 20 miles north of his hometown to get to a higher level of football.

Haggard spent two seasons at Santa Rosa before developing good relationships with the offering programs, but with UCLA in particular. Haggard has maintained a good relationship with UCLA and was hoping for an offer from the Bruins, but he never received one.

Haggard was invited to Bloomington for an official visit on Dec. 14, when he watched a bowl practice in John Mellencamp Pavilion and eventually received his offer. A couple other offensive line targets – Fort Wayne offensive lineman Randy Holtz and junior college lineman Josh Weichel – visited Indiana the same weekend, and Canadian offensive lineman Leif Magnuson was also in the works, having visited the weekend before.

“It was awesome. I really enjoyed it," Haggard said about the visit. “Coach Hiller is the man. I really like him. It’s just his personality. He’s just a really good guy. He just sort of gets you, I guess.”

Haggard called Hiller on Monday and gave his verbal commitment, and now, after he signs his papers, he's already looking to January, when he hits campus to work with the staff.

Haggard stands at 6-foot-7, 253 pounds, and he has the athleticism to play both sides of the ball, which he has done often between high school and junior college. But he needs to add weight to his frame to play offensive tackle at the Big Ten level, which he is expected to do with Stanford guard transfer Dylan Powell and current commits Brady Feeney, Cam Knight and Holtz already in the class.

“The first part is obviously weightlifting. They want to get weight on me early," Haggard said. "Just see how much weight I can pack on this offseason. The plan right now is to redshirt me, so I can get comfortable with the system, put the weight on, get better with my skills.”

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