USC commit Boobie Feaster is the modern football recruit — agents, NIL, reclassification and all

Before Ethan “Boobie” Feaster played a single down of varsity football at DeSoto (Texas) High School, the wunderkind receiver had more than 25 college scholarship offers. Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Oregon, Oklahoma and Texas A&M were among the programs throwing their hat in the ring for the then-eighth grader.

He soon showed why those schools were so intrigued, becoming the first ninth-grader to start at receiver for coach Claude Mathis at the Division I recruiting factory and catching nine touchdown passes to help the Eagles to a 2023 state championship.

Feaster’s pedigree, traits and production would make him an elite prospect in any era. But his recruitment, and everything that comes with it in modern college football, is an example of how much the industry has changed for the typical blue-chipper. A decision to reclassify to start his college career a year early. Interviewing and signing with an agent. Building a brand to capitalize on his name, image and likeness as soon as rules allow. And of course, big money offers from interested colleges.

Those closest to the 16-year-old Feaster, who committed to USC in July and won’t turn 17 until after he graduates from DeSoto this spring, believe he’s ready for all of it.

“He’s way more mature than most kids his age,” Mathis said

In his first two seasons at DeSoto, Feaster caught 89 passes for 1,458 yards and 22 touchdowns. While offers continued to pour in, college coaches began asking him about the possibility of reclassifying. Academically, it was feasible. Boobie’s father, Lee Feaster, said his son was only half a credit short of being a junior academically heading into his sophomore year.

When Boobie came home one day and jokingly asked his parents. “When are you going to let me reclassify?” Lee and Alison Feaster were initially reluctant.

“We’re losing a year of our baby,” Lee Feaster said. “We have four kids and the other three have gone on and we’ve got the baby boy and now you’re telling me you wanna leave early? I don’t know about that.”

The Feasters sought counsel from those closest to them, including Mathis and DeSoto receivers coach Kerry Sweeny, both of whom have coached multiple Division I prospects and have known Boobie since middle school. Mathis has coached at the college level, too, as SMU’s running backs coach from 2014-17. Lee Feaster said LSU receivers coach Cortez Hankton and USC receivers coach Dennis Simmons — both of whom have recruited Boobie for years — inquired about the possibility of reclassification.

Feaster was the No. 1 receiver in the 2027 class, and that elite status would translate to a sizable payday from interested schools. Reclassifying to graduate in 2026 — which he officially did in February — allows him to cash in sooner. (He’s now ranked No. 58 overall and the No. 6 receiver in the ’26 class in the 247Sports Composite.)

Lee says, despite what outsiders may think, money was not the primary motivating factor in the decision.

“The funny thing is that had nothing to do with it,” Lee Feaster said. “(Boobie) was already ahead in his classes.”

The shared sentiment from those in the Feaster’s inner circle: Boobie could handle the challenge.

“He was mature in the classroom,” Sweeny said. “But he was mature on the football field, too. I don’t want him to get bored. So it was time for him to just level up.”

Also, Lee Feaster considered the wear and tear on his son’s body. Because of DeSoto’s typical deep playoff runs, Boobie has already played 29 games in two seasons. If DeSoto plays for another state championship this fall, that’ll be 16 more, giving him basically four seasons’ worth of games in three years.

The decision, as tough and emotional as it was, made business sense. And the business part of it, which was only just beginning, was an eye-opener for the Feasters.

“The day he reclassified, I had 276 texts on my phone,” Lee Feaster said.

They weren’t just from college coaches — agents bombarded the Feasters, eager to represent one of the nation’s top skill-position players.

Lee Feaster said he started hearing from agents when Boobie was still in eighth grade, which started roughly a year into college football’s NIL era. Over the years, Lee Feaster says he has vetted 47 agents before landing on one they trust, Justin Giangrande, the CEO of the agency NETWORK. Giangrande also represents Florida QB DJ Lagway and Colorado freshman QB Julian Lewis, a top-100 recruit from the 2025 class.

While sifting through that agent process, Boobie’s recruiting picked up steam, including spring official visits to his four finalists: Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M and USC.

The money was important, but Giangrande said it wasn’t the deciding factor in choosing the Trojans. “Whatever school an athlete chooses,” he said, “if they’re elite like Boobie, (the money is) going to be pretty close.”

What separated USC from the pack, the Feasters said, was Boobie’s relationship with Simmons, who has coached players such as CeeDee Lamb, Dede Westbrook, Marquise Brown and Michael Crabtree.

“He’s very genuine,” Boobie said. “I’m able to talk to him outside of just talking about football. He can relate. And he has dealt with a lot of highly talented receivers.”

When Boobie sat with Lincoln Riley, USC’s head coach asked him what would keep him from coming to California. Boobie’s answer: “If my parents didn’t come.” So after Boobie graduates next spring, the family will pack up and move west.

Another issue the Feasters contended with is the fact that Boobie can’t yet capitalize on his name, image and likeness. Texas is one of six states that does not allow high school athletes to earn NIL compensation. The current state law, passed in June, permits athletes 17 and older to sign NIL deals, but they can’t receive compensation until they’re enrolled in college.

It’s not a new issue. Former Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers notably reclassified from the 2022 class to 2021 to capitalize on a $1.4 million endorsement deal. He had to enroll at Ohio State to get it because accepting any NIL money would make him ineligible to play high school ball in Texas, according to the rules of the University Interscholastic League, the state’s governing body of high school athletics.

The Feasters, who moved to Texas early in Boobie’s childhood, had a chance to return home to Louisiana, one of the states that permits high schoolers to monetize NIL. But Boobie wasn’t interested.

“(Boobie) said that ‘You taught me to fight through adversity,’” Lee recalls his son saying. “He loves DeSoto. So we stayed here.”

Boobie would love to capitalize on his NIL now — he wants to buy cars for his parents — but is willing to be patient until he gets to USC. Meanwhile, Giangrande is conversing with brands that are interested in partnering with Boobie and working on logos and marks for merchandise to sell when he is permitted to be compensated.

“It’s OK for us to have conversations,” Giangrande said.

Having what Feaster calls the “best nickname in high school” — taken from James “Boobie” Miles, a central character in “Friday Night Lights” — should make him even more marketable.

“When I was 4 years old, I watched ‘Friday Night Lights’ the day before my flag football game,” Boobie said in an OT7 documentary. “I said the line the next day at the game, ‘If you want to win, put Boobie in!’ Ever since then, everybody started calling me Boobie.”

It’s been an eventful journey since. Feaster’s first offer, from FCS program Incarnate Word and then-head coach G.J. Kinne, came when he was a seventh grader. The summer before his eighth-grade year, TCU and Texas Tech offered, kicking off the wave of Power 4 programs that followed.

“It was a lot to deal with,” he said. “But I came from wonderful humans. My whole family just taught me to always be humble, keep God first always. And that’s what I did the whole way.”

His parents want him to enjoy his final year, go to prom and soak in the typical senior traditions. Boobie admits that it’s tough leaving friends in his grade. “But where I’m trying to go,” he says, “I can’t really bring friends with me.”

He’ll be a 17-year-old receiver for USC next fall. “Hopefully, I become a Freshman All-American, Big Ten Freshman of the Year, be a first-round pick and be able to take care of my parents,” he said. “Of course, I want to be a Hall of Famer, an All-Pro, a Pro Bowler.”

He figures there’s no sense in putting off the pursuit of those goals any longer.

(Photo: Angela Piazza / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)