Western Kentucky picked up a second commitment on Wednesday, landing a convincing special teams player in Community School of Davidson (N.C.) 2022 kicker and punter Lucas Carneiro.
The 6-foot-0, 185-pound five-star kicker out of Cornelius, N.C. announced his commitment to the Hilltoppers over social media on Wednesday evening.
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Carneiro spoke with InsideHilltopperSports.com about his commitment and discussed what ultimately led to his decision.
The late addition to the 2022 class was offered by the Hilltoppers on June 15, revealing that just three days prior, he was on campus for a visit and workout.
Carneiro said he will be enrolling to Western Kentucky in late July and will be available for the Hilltoppers' fall camp.
"It feels amazing. I loved the campus, the facilities were great and they are only getting better. The coaching staff is also amazing."
— Lucas Carneiro
Carneiro said that WKU assistant head coach, special teams coordinator and tight ends coach Andy LaRussa played a crucial role in his recruitment as he was the first member of the Hilltoppers' coaching staff to reach out to him. He said they communicated consistently leading up to his visit.
"Coach LaRussa was the one who reached out to me. I was in contact with him the whole time, until I met everyone when I came up for the visit. He was straight-up with me and means business."
— Lucas Carneiro
Carneiro said that as a kicker, he is mostly self-taught and has had to push himself to improve and grow throughout his high school football career.
"I’ve had to push myself more than anyone because I've never had competition. It was always me pushing myself every day to get better, be the best and be able to commit to a good D1 program."
— Lucas Carneiro
While at Community School of Davidson, Carneiro said that his coaching staff did assist him in his development but he was also teaching himself.
