Go read any of their past interviews on tigerbait. They don't seem too excited about LSU. Langston and Williams each said they wanted to play in the Big East and hoped their AAU play would lead to more offers. Derenbrecker actually does seem to like LSU a lot, but there's a lot of talk that he wants to go to a more academically prestigious school.
If kids would rather play in the Big East, how is that Trent Johnson's fault? I'm not sure how a kid with Derenbecker's credentials can be faulted or how LSU can be faulted for him at least taking a look at schools such as Stanford and Georgetown.
Darn... every week I check on here & just seems to be more bad news.. I just wish Trent would finally get a big committment, Just one, something we could hang our hopes on.. I mean I think he is a great coach but this recruiting deal so far does not seem encouraging.. From what I am reading on this thread Trent is working on the best players in the state none of who have LSU as their first choice(?) & other players are being snatched up as we wait?? Hey, If Ok St gets a kid he can probably play - that was a good team last year.. Butch Pierre (darn him) could not recruit Louisiana well when he was at LSU but he seems to be doing ok now that he is at Ok St. I'm still standing up for Trent but someone (something) is choping at my platform posts!!!
You know, it's interesting, b/c on this board and others, there's been almost this tad bit of the "sky is falling" sentiment as to Trent and his recruiting. Even 'chokes is not his usual optimistic self. Before we all freak out, let's go back to the beginning of this thread. First, Trent DOES have an EARLY commitment in 2010, Jalen Courtney. He's from Mississippi, but he's a 3 star (may move up who knows), 6'7" 200+lb legit power forward, who has done well in AAU circuits. He is also very good friends with Andre Stringer (also from MS), a 4 star PG who lists LSU high and is taking his visit to LSU in the fall. The last time CJB and Butch landed a MS recruit was when? Ronald Dupree? Andy Kennedy and Stansbury have owned CJB in our own backyard for the past few years, in fact Malcolm White is only NOW returning home (LSU recruited him under the old regime)(see also, Kodi Augustus, Elgin Bailey, Brandon Wilson, Terrance Henry--all LA kids that went East to Miss). You don't see that now (unless presumably, the kids didn't get LSU offers). Galloway is likely to choose between a Big 12 school, LSU or a NE school. Derenbrecker is likely to choose between LSU and east coast or west coast school for academics. Williams--he's a little bit of an unknown. But, quite frankly, you're seeing kids like Courtney, Stringer, bypass the Miss schools. You're seeing kids from Alabama, like Ralston Turner, show interest in LSU. Secondly, you've got to be objective about the LA kids. CTJ has already secured the EARLY commitment of John Isaac in 2011--he's likely going to be the best player in LA for that year. I'm not sure I ever remember CJB getting an early commitment from a sophomore from LA (perhaps you might count Brandon Mitchell--now a football signee for AR). In the class of 2010, I'll grant you--it'd be nice to see an early commitment from a LA kid, but don't think that these kids aren't taking LSU seriously. Even Eddie Ludwig from this year needed to visit places like Wake or Davidson, before finally commiting to LSU. If you go back to the par for the course pre-CTJ, Brady and Butch went after the likes of Augustin, Monroe, etc. Who did they end up getting those years? Bo Spencer in a late signing period. Storm Warren (after committing to Baylor first). What other significant LA player did those guys land after the Temple, Thomas, Mitchell, Davis era? I would contend that Trent has had to some extent rebuild the LSU reputation in the state. On top of that, some of these LA kids are just going to want to go out of state--just like Courtney and Stringer probably want to get out of MS. At the end of the day, I'd like to hope that Galloway, Derenbrecker and Williams will all sign with LSU, but they all have to find their way here in their hearts and Trent doesn't play the "hard sell" game. For 2010, it's going to be hard to see things gel really until end of the summer and start of official visits. I think folks throw out the Markel Brown to OSU thing, and I think you just have a kid that jumped on the OSU offer, b/c it's a BCS offer and Butch is selling hard to get his foot back into LA (another Storm Warren situation?). I would predict (perhaps optimistically) that we get at least 1-2 LA recruits for class of 2010, and hopefully add another 1-2 out of staters (beyond Courtney). I think if that happens LSU will have a solid top 10-15 class. And, we haven't even started talking Noel Johnson in this thread, but he's out there. If NJ lands in LSU class of 2009, I think your statement above kind of becomes moot.
Solidifying my point that he should be recruiting the lesser touted but equally talented players like Markel Brown. I don't want to throw all the eggs in one basket just to swing and miss; we had enough of that when Brady was here. Anyway, things are looking a lot brighter for Derenbrecker. He's visiting us this month and wants to commit before next season.
Where are u getting this scoop? Last reported by Rivals, he was looking to take his time. Obviously that would be some good news if he commits early (so let's get it done Matt!). Perhaps if (and obviously that's still an optimistic if) Noel Johnson enrolls at LSU, the 2010 class gets noticeably smaller to folks like Derenbrecker, Galloway and Williams. With Noel and Malcolm White in the fold, I think the number of folks Trent can sign for 2010 is 4 (one spot already taken by Courtney), so effectively 3 spots. Perhaps a musical chairs exercise is what we need to get some of these kids off the pine. With out of state kids like Stringer and Turner really looking hard at LSU, the LA kids that do want to be at LSU might want to think about committing early.... :yelwink2: As of now, of the folks seriously considering LSU, we have Stringer, Turner, Derenbrecker, Galloway, and Williams with potentially only 3 or 4 spots for them. Someone's got to take those offers if they really want to be at LSU :thumb:. To many of the folks that find fault with Markel Brown signing with OSU, note that the numbers game above, leads to some of the difficulties for Trent managing the interest from these 5 pretty highly regarded recruits. As for Andre Stringer and Ralston Turner, who both list LSU high along side Alabama :huh:, I wonder how this news is hitting them... 2theadvocate.com | News | NCAA places Alabama football program on probation — Baton Rouge, LA :redface:
