Wednesday marked the beginning of the early signing period for most collegiate sports. High school players from around the country were able to sign national letters of intent with LSU.Men’s Basketball    Coach Trent Johnson and his staff signed two players, Eddie Ludwig of Country Day in Metairie and Aaron Dotson of Rainier Beach High School in Seattle, Wa.”Obviously, we are excited as a staff,” Johnson said in a news release. “We feel we have signed two quality young men from two very solid high school basketball programs.”Ludwig, the 6-foot-8-inch class 1-A MVP, averaged 23.2 points and 13.5 rebounds per game at Country Day. He chose LSU over California, Davidson, Tulane and Wake Forest. Ludwig is rated as a three-star power forward by Rivals.com.Dotson, a four-star shooting guard according to Rivals.com, helped lead Rainier Beach to a 3-A state championship in Washington. The 6-foot-4-inch guard averaged 13.5 points per game during his championship season and chose LSU instead of offers from Louisville and Washington.”Both are winners,” Johnson said. “So we feel that both these young men are coming in to our program well-prepared to have an immediate impact.”Baseball  Coach Mainieri and the baseball staff were also able to sign some top-notch prospects, specifically Zack Von Rosenburg (Zachary High), Alex Edward (Parkview Baptist) and Brody Colvin (St. Thomas More High School).Von Rosenburg, a 6-foot-5-inch right-handed pitcher, compiled a 12-1 record last season with a 0.49 ERA and 117 strikeouts in 82 innings.Colvin is another prized pitching prospect for the Tigers. The 6-foot-4-inch right-handed pitcher can hit the low 90s on the radar gun and committed to LSU after his All-State sophomore season.Edward helped lead Parkview Baptist to a 3-A title while hitting .512 with 60 RBIs and nine home runs.VolleyballCoach Fran Flory was able to sign two players in the early signing period with the addition of Madie Jones (Plano, Texas) and Ally Judkins (Houston).Jones, a 6-foot-2-inch outside hitter, is one of the top prep volleyball players in the nation. She was named an All-American at the USA Volleyball Junior National Championships in 2008 after leading her club team to a second place finish.Judkins, a 6-foot-1-inch  middle blocker, is also a top recruit after leading her team to a third-place finish at the USAV Junior Nationals.”This is an outstanding class,” Flory said in a news release. “Both Madie and Allyson will have the chance to contribute immediately. They have both competed and succeeded on the national level, and we can’t wait for them to bring that level of experience and competitiveness into our program.”Both Judkins and Jones are listed as top-50 national recruits for the class of 2009 by PrepVolleyball.com.Women’s BasketballLSU women’s basketball coach Van Chancellor received national letters of intent from four players: Bianca Lutley (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Adrienne Webb (Sparkman, Ala.), Jasmine Nelson (Trinity Valley Community College) and Erica Williams (Southern Miss).”Overall, I am very excited about this class,” Chancellor said in a news release. “I really like the versatility of these players and know they will fit right in here at LSU. We look forward to them joining our team next season.”Lutley may be the headliner of the class as she is rated as the No. 24 prospect in the country by HoopGurlz.com. Lutley averaged 22.5 points and 10.1 rebounds per game as an all-state junior.Webb, another big-time prep prospect, averaged 22 points and six rebounds per game for Sparkman High School. The 5-foot-10-inch Webb was also a finalist for the 6-A player of the year in Alabama.Nelson, a 6-foot-2-inch forward from New Orleans, averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds per game playing for Trinity Valley Community College in Texas last season.Williams, who played her high school ball at Dutchtown, has already enrolled at LSU after transferring from Southern Miss in the fall. The 5-foot-8-inch guard averaged 4.7 points and 1.4 rebounds per game at Southern Miss.Football RecruitingCoach Les Miles added two more members to the 2009 football recruiting class this week with the commitment of Akiem Hicks and Morris Claiborne.Hicks, a defensive tackle from Sacramento City Junior College, committed to coach Miles on Sunday after an official visit for the LSU-Alabama game. The 6-foot-6-inch, 300-pounder is rated as a four-star defensive tackle by Rivals.com and the No. 20-ranked junior college prospect in the nation.”He’s a big, big boy with a big motor,” said Sacramento City Junior College coach Mike Clemons. “He’s still young. He has a great future in front of him.”Hicks is the fourth defensive lineman committed to the Tigers for the class of 2009 and chose LSU instead of offers from Oregon, Tennessee and Purdue among others. “His style of play is real ballistic,” Clemons said. “He gets after people and plays through pain. I’d like to think that he could come down there and maybe help right away.”The Tigers got their second commit of the week when Fair Park’s (Shreveport) Morris Claiborne gave his pledge to coach Miles. Claiborne plays quarterback for Fair Park but is being recruited as a cornerback/wide receiver prospect.Claiborne is rated as a two-star athlete by Rivals.com and chose LSU instead of offers from Nebraska and Texas A&M.