LSU Football Signing Day Central
The LSU football staff had commitments in from 27 prospects entering the NCAA’s Early Signing Period for the 2024 class, a group that includes 26 high school prospects and one junior college commitment.
The Tigers have also landed a trio of transfer portal additions, all coming from SEC schools.
As the dust settled on Day 1 of the Early Signing Period gets on Wednesday, the Tigers finished as expected by inking all 27 commitments.
LSU fans have joined The Bengal Tiger’s Shea Dixon, Billy Embody and Matthew Brune to discuss all the action from Signing Day on The Ponderosa Message Board. (CLICK HERE)
The LSU 2024 Signees: (27)
7:15 a.m. CT: Louisiana DL Gabriel Reliford
7:45 a.m. CT: Georgia EDGE CJ Jackson
7:50 a.m. CT: North Carolina OT Ethan Calloway
7:55 a.m. CT: Florida QB Colin Hurley
8:05 a.m. CT: Texas WR Jelani Watkins
8:10 a.m. CT: Louisiana WR Kylan Billiot
8:15 a.m. CT: Texas LB Davhon Keys
8:20 a.m. CT: Texas OT Weston Davis
8:30 a.m. CT: Texas OT Ory Williams
8:40 a.m. CT: Mississippi CB PJ Woodland
8:45 a.m. CT: Louisiana WR Michael Turner
8:50 a.m. CT: Louisiana CB Bernard Causey
8:55 a.m. CT: Texas LB Xavier Atkins
9:00 a.m. CT: Louisiana S Dashawn McBryde
9:10 a.m. CT: Louisiana DL Ahmad Breaux
9:15 a.m. CT: Louisiana LB Tylen Singleton
9:20 a.m. CT: Louisiana OL Joseph Cryer
9:25 a.m. CT: Louisiana S Joel Rogers
9:40 a.m. CT: Louisiana OL Khayree Lee
9:45 a.m. CT: Louisiana CB Wallace Foster IV
10:00 a.m. CT: Louisiana K Aeron Burrell
10:03 a.m. CT: Texas RB Caden Durham
10:04 a.m. CT: Louisiana LB/EDGE Kolaj Cobbins
10:05 a.m. CT: Louisiana DL De’Myrion Johnson
10:10 a.m. CT: Louisiana TE Trey’Dez Green
11:36 a.m. CT: JUCO DT Shone Washington
12:55 p.m. CT: Louisiana CB Ju’Juan Johnson
On3 remains high on LSU’s 2024 recruiting haul
The LSU football class is ranked by the On3 Industry Rankings as the No. 11 class in the country, but each recruiting site views the haul differently.
The On3 rankings team has LSU as the No. 6 class in the country, the highest among all recruiting services.
LSU’s class checks in at No. 10 on 247Sports, No. 13 on Rivals and No. 14 on ESPN.
Flips became the storyline late in the cycle
Here’s something that didn’t get talked about enough as LSU wrapped up the bulk of the 2024 class.
The five most recent high school commitments to get on board with the Tigers all flipped from other programs – including four LSU players who flipped from SEC schools.
The run began in October when LSU dialed up the heat in the trenches and at cornerback, which led to four flips.
The headliner was five-star offensive tackle Weston Davis, who moved his commitment from Texas A&M to LSU. The Tigers also landed another On3 Top 100 prospect in Georgia four-star EDGE rusher CJ Jackson, who flipped from in-state Georgia Tech to LSU. From there, the staff scored with a pair of cornerback flips by snagging New Orleans senior Bernard Causey from Ole Miss and South Mississippi standout PJ Woodland from Mississippi State.
In December, one of the biggest flips of the cycle came when On3 Top 100 prospect Gabriel Reliford made an official visit to Baton Rouge, then quickly flipped his commitment from Texas A&M to LSU. Flipping a pair of elite players from the Aggies in a five-star offensive tackle and four-star defensive lineman was huge, and the addition of Reliford was a big boost to the future of the defensive line room given how bright he’s shined over the past two seasons at Evangel before wrapping up his high school career as a Top 10 defensive lineman nationally on the On3 rankings.
Will LSU add a late surprise to the class?
LSU hosted Texas four-star offensive lineman Coen Echols on the final weekend before the Early Signing Period.
Echols had been committed to Texas A&M, but earlier this month he backed off the pledge to the Aggies and shifted his focus to Auburn and LSU.
After making official visits to both programs, including a final stop in Baton Rouge this past weekend, Echols is mulling over a final decision with his family before dialing up both staffs with news of his decision, multiple sources tell The Bengal Tiger staff. Those calls – and a decision – are expected to come at some point on Tuesday.
That said, a source in Katy (Texas) who is close to Echols’ recruitment said it’s likely the four-star interior offensive lineman waits until Friday – his birthday – to reveal make his college announcement, though at that point it’s expected he will have already signed with the team he chooses, and that program would keep the news quiet until the four-star offensive lineman is ready to go public and celebrate the end of his recruiting process.
Texas A&M and Missouri are still in talks with Echols, but multiple sources feel he’s choosing between LSU and Auburn. The Tigers are more than pleased with the five high school offensive line commitments already on board who are set to sign on Wednesday, but following a weekend visit to Baton Rouge from Echols and his family, it appears LSU offensive line coach Brad Davis is giving the green light to the Top 15 interior offensive line prospect if he wants to join the 2024 class in Baton Rouge. There is smoke starting to grow around LSU potentially winning out here, so stay tuned. We will have more from Echols as the next 24 hours unfolds.
Do a pair of 5-stars stick with the plan to sign in February?
Two of LSU’s longtime targets and current Texas A&M commitments are Louisiana five-star defensive tackle Dominick McKinley and Texas five-star athlete Terry Bussey, but neither are the center of conversation this week – at least not at the moment.
McKinley’s mother, Angie McKinley, told The Bengal Tiger staff that her son plans to wait until February to sign with a college team. LSU was one of a number of teams that made in-home visits with the Acadiana High five-star defensive lineman this past week, and the Tigers have lined up an official visit for January.
The same goes for Bussey, who told On3 he plans to wait to sign in February as he feels out his commitment to the Aggies, as well as other suitors like LSU.
“I’m trying to make the best decision for me,” Bussey said. “I’m looking at every one individually. I’m having an open mind with A&M, seeing how it shakes out there, and it’s been all good. There will be a couple of new ones (schools) I visit and a couple of schools I return to visit.”
LSU is still in the mix for both, but it won’t be a situation the Tigers will have to sweat out this week.
A heavy Louisiana (and Texas) flavor to the class
LSU wanted to put a focus on the Bayou State this cycle, and the staff did just that by reeling in commitments from 17 Louisiana high school prospects. From there, the next-most additions came from Texas as the Tigers are set to sign six players from the state. And even then, two of the Texas high school commitments – Xavier Atkins and Jelani Watkins – are Louisiana natives.
Outside of 23 of the 27 commitments being from Louisiana and Texas, the Tigers only added one player from four other states in Florida quarterback Colin Hurley, Mississippi cornerback PJ Woodland, North Carolina offensive tackle Ethan Calloway and Georgia edge rusher CJ Jackson.
Yes, LSU is a national brand. And the Tigers will scour the country for the nation’s best recruits each cycle. But I also love the approach for a number of reasons. One, statistically speaking, the state of Louisiana and Texas produce blue-chip prospects at one of the highest rates in America. That means if you’re evaluations are solid, the hit rate can be quite high.
Then, Mississippi, Georgia and Florida are a trio of states also known for churning out blue-chip talent. It’s smart to stay active in those areas each cycle.
Then, there’s the NCAA Transfer Portal. More often than not, if playing time isn’t there or the fit doesn’t feel right, we’ve seen players who leave home for college transfer back towards a college closer to family. It happened this month with LSU when the lone true freshman to enter the portal, Ohio tight end Jackson McGohan, elected to leave Baton Rouge and transfer to Wisconsin.
