When it comes to recruiting, coaches know the verbal commitments picked up during the season mean little until the day a student-athlete signs their letter of intent.
Today is that day.
National signing day is when all of the speculation, all of the wondering and all of the hype finally comes to a close.
“You are always in search of those great players,” said LSU coach Les Miles in a news release. “But, you can’t forgo replenishing your football team. We lost some key players on the offensive line and at linebacker, so those are two areas that we focused on.”
The difference in LSU’s verbal commitment list in the past 24 hours is proof of how quickly things can change in recruiting.
In a day, Miles and his staff have lost two athletes, who were previously committed to LSU, to other schools. Inversely, the Tigers picked up a student who was previously committed to another university.
London Crawford, who before yesterday was one of four wide receivers committed to play for LSU, announced Monday that he would instead sign with Southeastern Conference rival, Arkansas Razorbacks.
“That is indeed true,” said Crawford’s high school coach in a rivals.com interview. “He is going to sign with Arkansas.”
Joining Crawford in breaking a commitment to LSU was four-star Mississippi defensive end Marcus Tillman.
Tillman switched his five-month verbal pledge to LSU and is expected to sign with Ole Miss today.
On the other hand, four-star Destrehan athlete Jai Eugene, who made his verbal commitment to Michigan known live on national television at the U.S. Army All-American game, decided on Monday he would sign with LSU.
“I started having second thoughts that I didn’t tell anyone about,” Eugene said. “I just made up my mind and called [coach Miles] out of the blue, and he was surprised.”
LSU currently sits with 25 verbal commitments who are prepared to sign with the team today.
Offensive tackle Andre Smith, rivals.com’s No. 2-rated player overall, has yet to decide between LSU, Southern Cal and Alabama.
The five-star prospect made his official visit to LSU on the weekend of Jan. 20 and will announce his decision today at 11 a.m.
“We are excited that Andre is finally going to get his decision behind him,” said Smith’s father Andre Smith Sr. “But right now he still doesn’t know what he’s going to do.”
If he chooses the Tigers, Smith would help bolster a unit that lost four seniors this past season.
Another prospect the Tigers will keep close tabs on is defensive tackle Charles Deas from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Deas chose to forgo his senior football season at Dillard High School this past fall to concentrate on academics and fell off the recruiting radar until his recent performance at the CaliFlorida All-Star Game.
The official 2006 recruiting class will be announced at today’s Signing Day Bash as the letters of intent faxed to the University administration by the athletes will make them officially committed.
“The coaching staff has done a good job, and they’ve worked long and hard,” Miles said. “We graduated 21 seniors, so this signing class has to be a large one to replenish our team.”
 
 
Contact Jeff Martin at [email protected]