College football recruiting impact: LSU loses on field, but wins over prospects
How did the games and visits of last weekend in college football impact recruiting? Despite a loss to Alabama, LSU impressed several top recruits and gained two commitments.
The atmosphere in Tiger Stadium was electric Saturday, and even though LSU lost to Alabama, it showed itself as an elite program. And with loads of recruits in attendance, that was a very good thing indeed.
The big commitment came in the form of defensive end Christian Lacouture, who had recently decommitted from Nebraska. Lacouture is an excellent prospect with the size to play inside, but who may also have the ability to stick at defensive end, depending on how LSU plans to use him.
The atmosphere also impressed 2013 athlete Kendell Beckwith, who had this to say to ESPN:
“What I took out of it more is probably how crazy the atmosphere is at LSU -- how crazy it can really get,” he said. “I never thought it could get much crazier at night in Tiger Stadium than it was for South Carolina. ... I thought I had seen it as bad as it could get as far as the fans go, but this game, man. They were crazy as far as hollering. Just all night. I see why it’s hard for teams to come in there and win.”
Beckwith will now trip to Tuscaloosa to see the Crimson Tide take on Texas A&M. It’s hard to see him leaving Louisiana, but it’s also difficult to bet against Nick Saban on the recruiting trail.
The Tigers also picked up a commitment from 2015 Jacksonville (Fla.) cornerback Kevin Tolliver. I had a chance to see Tolliver over the summer while covering the IMG Madden 7-on-7 National Championship in Bradenton, Fla. He has five-star potential.
An interesting note for the Tigers on the recruiting front, however, came from defensive tackle Justin Manning, who did not make the trip and eliminated LSU from contention. He is now focused on Oklahoma, TCU and Texas A&M.
Georgia shows off for moms of Nkemdiche, Adams
With the top defensive end and tackle in Athens, Georgia soundly beat Ole Miss after a rough early going, and attempted to impress the mothers of Robert Nkemdiche and Montravius Adams.
In Adams’ case, it worked, as he told ESPN:
“Everything went good on my UGA trip,” Adams said. “I liked it and my momma loved it. My mom sat down with Coach [Mark] Richt and he told her everything about the school. She liked all that he had to say.”
His mother had similar thoughts for the AJC:
“I enjoyed Georgia better than the other two places I’ve been; I enjoyed Georgia real good because ... I don’t know ... they just make me feel like family, I guess,” Young said. “Auburn and Florida, they made me feel good. But I just feel more comfortable at Georgia.”
Nkemdiche and his mother are yet to comment on the trip. However, Adams did tell the AJC that Nkemdiche mentioned something about Ole Miss, which is interesting as he is technically a Clemson commitment.
USC loses Redfield
USC was dominated by Oregon this weekend at home and lost a California recruit as well, as safety Max Redfield decided to decommit. The decision was not a surprise, as he had been eyeing Notre Dame for a while. There’s also word that Redfield will take a visit to Oregon. Basically, unless USC can get him back in the fold, they’ll have to play against him in the future.
Redfield’s departure does open up a spot for Seffner (Fla.) Armwood safety Leon McQuay III.
UCLA wins big on and off field
UCLA destroyed Arizona this weekend and impressed four-star linebacker and soft Stanford commitment Isaac Savaiinaea in the process, according to Justin Hopkins of 247sports.
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