Fort Walton Beach, Fla., quarterback commits to Troy

Luke Barnes, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound quarterback from Fort Walton Beach, Fla., committed to Troy Saturday.

“I felt like I had a good connection with the coaches,” Barnes said. “It seemed like the right time to commit. I was going to go ahead and do it early.”

Barnes participated in Troy’s system camp a week ago. He picked Troy over interest from Southern Miss, South Florida, Alabama and Auburn.

Barnes said he ran a 4.6 in the 40-yard dash and committed early to get the recruiting pressure out of the way early. He is Troy’s third high school commitment for the 2010 class, joining Marianna, Fla., linemen Dalton Bennett and Tommy Stephens. Junior college offensive lineman Teavis Durgin, linebacker Talris Brown and defensive back Aaron Ward, who signed in 2008, have said they will re-sign in 2010.