JACKSON, Miss. – High school football star J.C. Brignone lost nearly everything when Hurricane Katrina tore through coastal Bay St. Louis, from his home to his senior season at St. Stanislaus High.

Brignone’s family fled 400 miles to join relatives in the suburban Atlanta town of Lilburn, where Georgia powerhouse Parkview High welcomed him.

“It’s just gone by real slow, getting everything back to normal and not being able to see your friends,” the defensive lineman said. “It’s just taking a lot of getting used to, I guess.”

Dozens of blue-chip high school players scattered when the storm ravaged the recruiting hotbeds of Mississippi and Louisiana, and Brignone is among the lucky ones – he stayed on college recruiters’ radar.

Several other coastal Division I prospects have found new homes.