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When Hurricane Katrina hammered New Orleans in 2005, the storm and its aftermath forced Tyrell Gaddies to leave Kennedy High and play his final two seasons of prep football at Eisenhower High in Houston.
Now, after spending two years at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas, Gaddies is coming home to close out his college career at UL. And the big defensive tackle is bringing one of his junior college teammates with him.
On Monday, Gaddies and Coffeyville Community College wide receiver Andrew "Rico" Joseph publicly committed to sign national letters of intent with the Cajuns. Both players, who redshirted during the 2007 season, will have three years of eligibility remaining.
<center><p><a href="http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20081216/SPORTS/812160324/1006" target="_blank">The rest of the story</a>
Joshua Parrott •
jparrott@theadvertiser.com • December 16, 2008
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The news was first reported Monday at theadvertiser.com.
Joseph is expected to enroll at UL for spring semester classes, which start Jan. 14. Gaddies was unavailable for comment on Monday.
"They liked him, and they liked me at the same time," Joseph said Monday from his home in West Palm Beach, Fla. "It's going to be a good thing already knowing somebody there."
Joseph emerged as one of the top wide receivers this season in the competitive Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference. The 5-foot-10, 170-pounder earned second team all-league honors and was voted Coffeyville's most valuable player after hauling in 35 catches for 597 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 18.8 yards per reception.
The Florida native finished second in the conference in receiving yards and yards per catch and was third in receiving yards per game (66.3). In seven league games, he used his 4.4-second speed in the 40-yard dash to lead the KJCCC in total receiving yards (490) and receiving yards per game (70.0).
"I think I'm a really good route-runner," Joseph said. "I can get deep on teams and get open.
"I can just get open, period, and I have good top-end speed."
Joseph also held offers from Hofstra and Charleston Southern but decided to wrap up his college days in Lafayette after visiting campus two weeks ago. There should be plenty of playing time available next season with senior wide receivers Jason Chery and Derrick Smith exhausting their eligibility this past fall.
"The people there are real nice," Joseph said. "It's a nicer place than the other places I've seen. It's not too big, not too small. I like all the facilities on campus
"They're telling me I have a chance to come in and play (next season), and I like that."
A Florida native, Joseph earned first team all-state honors as a senior at Class 1A Glades Day School. He helped the school win the state title after leading the team with 35 catches for 776 yards and 10 touchdowns. He ended up at Coffeyville after being unable to attain a qualifying ACT score.
Gaddies is a 6-3, 270-pound defensive tackle who clogged up the middle this season for Coffeyville. He recorded 36 tackles to go with 4.5 sacks and two pass break-ups.
All of his sacks came in conference action, ranking him ninth among players in league-only games. Once he was named the conference's defensive player of the week.
After leaving New Orleans for Houston in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Gaddies and his twin brother Jyrell were featured in stories by the New York Times and MSNBC.com.
Gaddies also was a state finalist in the 110-meter high hurdles before going to Coffeyville.
"He plays inside, but he's a quicker defensive lineman," Joseph said of Gaddies, who also reportedly received interest from Central Florida. "He runs in the 4.7s and 4.8s in the 40.
"I think he'll have a good chance to come in and contribute."
The addition of Joseph and Gaddies increases UL's 2009 signing class to five. The other three current public commitments are L.W. Higgins offensive lineman Ashton Tyler, Teurlings Catholic athlete Andrew Hebert and Atlantic (Fla.) High offensive lineman Robert Robinson.
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