Boredom has struck. This list will include only prospects who very seriously considered LSU (per recollection), also included are Louisiana players we didn't pursue. 2005: Martellus Bennet, ranked #8 overall in the country & the #1 TE – committed to A&M over LSU (and Texas) due to family pressure. Bennet was a second round pick in the draft based on his athleticism, although his A&M career was unspectacular due to a poor passing game. He would’ve been better off at LSU, IMO. LSU got Richard Dickson the next year. Jerrell Power – the #3 DT, actually commited to LSU at the Army All-American game, only to switch to Ole Miss. Last I heard he’s still trying to become eligible & may actually play this coming season. LSU got Ricky Jean Francois that year. Derek Pegues – #4 CB in the country as a recruit, has been very successful for Mississippi State. LSU only got Chris Hawkins as a DB in that class, so although he probably wouldn’t have started for several year, it would be nice to have him for the coming season. Chris Keys – the #4 safety, a former LSU commit, signed with Alabama. I thought he was kicked off their team, but with a quick google search it looks like he may be at LB now. D1 talent we didn’t offer: Nic Harris was the #5 safety, a Louisiana prospect, and didn’t have an LSU offer. He signed with OU, and has been an All-Big 12 performer for them. 2005 had tons of top D1 talent from Louisiana that LSU didn’t offer, including Lucas Taylor – Tennessee’s leading WR, and Patrick Trahan who’s been good at Auburn. 2006: D1 talent we didn’t offer: Chris Brown was the #17 RB in the country, and a Louisiana player with no LSU offer. He signed with OU and has had a solid career thus far. LSU ended up with Richard Murphy, Keiland Williams, and Charles Scott in that class instead. Perrish Cox, the #8 CB – and an LSU commit for quite a while, switched to Oklahoma St at the end when Jai Eugene changed his commitment to LSU. Cox’s career thus far has mostly been as a return man, which he’s excelled at. Alex Cate – another former LSU commit who switched to Oklahoma St. Word is that LSU lost interest, and Cate now appears to be buried on Oklahoma St’s depth chart at QB. Bani Gbadyu – the #15 outside LB, was an LSU commit until Katrina made him change his mind. He signed with Penn State, and has not made much of an impact there yet. LSU got Odom, Perry Riley, & Jacob Cutrera, and Kelvin Sheppard at LB instead. Andre Smith – the #1 OG in the country, chose Bama over USC, LSU & UF. Andre is now considered one of the best OG’s in the country. LSU got a couple OG’s in this class, none have performed close to Andre. Marcus Tillman – a one-time LSU commit, Marcus switched to Ole Miss due to family pressure. He’s a starter & good performer, although not better than our current starting DE’s. Reshad Jones – the #1 safety, chose UGA over LSU, has been a part-time starter & solid performer. He would probably have been our nickel-back last year. 2007: D1 Talent we didn’t offer: Dez Bryant – the #9 WR & a fan favorite, the coaches obviously never felt quite the same way as he never got an LSU offer. He set an Oklahoma St freshman record with 622 receiving yards, although he was a bit inconsistent. Ahmad Paige, as predicted by our coaches, has had trouble gaining weight at Tennessee & has not made an impact. Jason Peters was asked to grayshirt, but chose to sign with Georgia Tech instead – he’ll be a contributor for them this season. Cameron Heyward – the #13 DT, chose Ohio St over UGA, UF & LSU. He’s doing great at Ohio St as a back-up. I think he may be starting this season. Joe McKnight – well we all remember this one, the #2 recruit in the country who signed with USC. Although his freshman year didn’t have that much production, it was flashy & Joe is being considered a possible break-out star for next year. Deonte Thompson – the #8 WR in the country, LSU stopped pursuing him & got D Byrd as our deep threat instead. Thompson redshirted & will be looked at to contribute this year for Florida as a deep threat, but is still having problems catching the ball. Who else you got?
He is off the team. Biggest miss in my opinion. I remember when he was on his official he had committed Saturday night? I believe. I saw he and some players at Waffle House that night and Cox ordered 40 dollars worth of food, and ate EVERY BIT OF IT. That is damn near impossible there. Not that it really matters but he is a tackle, but we have done a nice job at LT. He is an absolute beast and one of the most athletic guys in football.
They all have one other thing in common. They all lack one of these...:crystal: Some went elsewhere due to pressure, some due to numbers, etc. and sometimes that's the best choice. Those who simply passed on the opportunity (McKnight), I hope they never see one of these...:crystal:.
Dwayne Bowe once told me Noel Devine was an LSU lock if he were offered, but that Miles never pulled the trigger because of grades, character, etc... He imo could be better at the "holliday" position than Trindon himself is. But all-in-all, this is tight thread, CP.
Phil Loadholt was a LSU commit but didn't qualify for the SEC because of a Math class or something. Now an All America candidate at Oklahoma.
Andre supposedly loved LSU, and would've been a Tiger if Bama weren't "home" - that's why I included him.
Since we don't have any rules in this thread I'll go back to 04 and throw out Pat White, who commited to us as an Athlete/WR, we all know how his career has progressed since then. Also we didn't offer Derron Thomas of East St John that year. He went to Miami and had a marginal career. We signed Hester instead. Darius Reynard from Hahnville has had a nice career at WVU with White, another guy we didn't offer at WR was Jerald Watson, who went to AU. I think he was a very good baseball player but don't remember hearing much about him at Auburn. DT Daryl Richard went to Ga Tech, he was offered by us but chose Tech for early playing time. I think he made have had some sort of injury that cut his career short or something. Ole Miss fans celebrated getting Deon Gales that year in their yearly boasting of who they stole from LSU, but we really never gave him an offer and I don't remember anything about his time at OM, did he ever qualify. We signed a highly touted safety that year that everyone thought was going to be too slow to stay at that position but would be bulked up and moved to LB. He was an All American for us last year at safety!!!!!:wink:
Jerrell Power? I don't remember that being his last name. Powe, I think it was. Wasn't he a dud that never saw the field due to grades.
Jerrell Powe is still trying to get into Ole Miss. He doesn't qualify per SEC requirements but does by NCAA standards. Mike Slive now has the authority to make exceptions and has been petitioned to do so. Jerrell, if you are listening you should just forget Ole Miss and go to Oklahoma. You won't have any trouble getting in and you'll probably be a star pupil up there.:lol:
