LSU trending for 4-star DL Gabriel Reliford following Texas A&M decommitment
Late Sunday night, Shreveport (La.) Evangel Christian Academy four-star defensive lineman Gabriel Reliford announced his decommitment from Texas A&M. The elite prospect had been committed to the Aggies since June 27, but opted to back off his pledge.
He won’t be on the board for long, however. In his decommitment announcement, Reliford also noted that he’ll be committing this Saturday, Dec. 9. Over the weekend, Reliford was in Baton Rouge on an official visit with LSU.
Multiple recuriitng insiders and analysts are putting the pieces together, as the Tigers are now heavily trending to land the 6-foot-2, 250-pounder, according to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM).
In the less than 24 hours he’s been decommitted from A&M, three different picks have been logged in favor of LSU. Now, Brian Kelly and the Tigers have a 96.8% chance to add the touted lineman to the fold and keep him in The Boot.
“Momentum began shifting away from the Aggies toward the tail end of last week, according to sources,” wrote On3 National Recruiting Analyst Sam Spiegelman. “Reliford drove from Shreveport to Baton Rouge on Friday. One source believed LSU was “in a good position” shortly after arriving on campus.”
Reliford latest blue-chip prospect to leave A&M recruiting class
Texas A&M fired head coach Jimbo Fisher, and now Aggies DL coach Elijah Robinson is expected to become the new defensive coordinator at Syracuse. Multiple other top prospects had already decommitted from the Aggies, leaving plenty of uncertainty for the future in College Station. LSU has already flipped Beaumont (Texas) five-star offensive tackle Weston Davis from the Aggies this fall.
“With a lot of prayer and long conversations with my family, I have decided to decommit from the University of Texas A&M. Thank you to all the A&M coaches and fans who believed in me and gave me the opportunity to be part of the brotherhood,” Reliford wrote in his announcement.
He is the No. 228 overall prospect and No. 23 DL in the 2024 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. On3 ranks Reliford much higher than other recruiting services, as he checks in as the No. 59 recruit and No. 7 DL in the On300.
Reliford currently has an On3 NIL Valuation of $74K. The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets high school and college athletes’ projected annual value (PAV). The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.