After only picking up 13 signees in his first recruiting year at LSU, football coach Les Miles has seen his recruiting fortunes take a turn for the better. He has since consistently put together top-10 recruiting classes. Last season Miles secured the likes of running backs Keiland Williams and Charles Scott, tight end Richard Dickson and defensive back Danny McCray among other early freshman contributors and finished with the Rivals.com No. 7-ranked signing class. This year will be no different. As of today the Tigers have already received 17 verbal commitments from some of the most talented high school seniors from around the country and are still in the running for several more. Bastrop High School wide receiver DeAngelo Benton, Greater Atlanta Christian offensive lineman T-Bob Hebert, Lamar Consolidated offensive lineman Jarvis Jones, New Iberia Catholic tight end Mitch Joseph, Trinity Episcopal linebacker Stevan Ridley, Breaux Bridge athlete John Williams and Brenham quarterback Jarrett Lee are the current commitments a part of the Rivals250, which consists of the websites top-250 players in the nation. Lee, 6-foot-3-inch quarterback with a 4.6 second 40-yard dash, was heavily recruited out of Brenham, Texas, but has been committed to LSU since May. “His No. 1 strength is that he is unflappable,” Brenham coach Glen West said. “I have never met a kid that can handle pressure, and you just don’t know that he’s got any nervousness at all about him.” Lee said he expects to redshirt his freshman season at LSU, but that day may never come. His and the 16 other verbally committed high school athletes’ commitments are not binding until they sign a letter of intent. There are still two and a half months left before signing day, which is plenty of time for recruits to change their minds. West Virginia University quarterback and All-Big East selection Pat White was committed to LSU in 2004 until he signed a letter of intent on signing day to play for West Virginia. With LSU coach Jimbo Fisher recruiting Lee for the Tigers’ staff and with talk swirling about Fisher leaving LSU next season for a possible coaching job elsewhere, there are questions that Lee may pull a Pat White on the Tigers. But Lee told tigerbait.com he remains committed to a school not a coach. “Coach Fisher and I definitely have a special relationship,” Lee said. “He was a big reason that I committed to LSU because I have developed a strong relationship with him, but I can honestly say that I committed to LSU first before coach Fisher. If he is not there, I am still committed to LSU.” The NCAA prohibits coaches from speaking abouts recruits until they are officially signed, but Miles did express that the general idea of his recruiting strategy was to target recruits who wanted to come to LSU and get them committed early. His Tigers had what some teams call a full signing class before he called his first play in Tiger Stadium this season. Next season the Tigers will lose 22 seniors including eight starters while juniors JaMarcus Russell and Glenn Dorsey will have decisions to make after the Sugar Bowl against the University of Notre Dame regarding their future. These losses could translate into early playing time for the potential freshmen.
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