Craig Loston has been attached to both Texas A&M and Clemson during his high school career, but now the five-star safety prospect seems firmly committed to LSU. Loston was rumored to be a strong LSU lean, especially after his cousin, LSU quarterback commit Russell Shepard, stated numerous times that Loston would end up at LSU even before Loston de-committed from Clemson following Tommy Bowden’s firing. Even Loston’s coach at Eisenhower High School, Ray Evans, told ESPN that Loston would be at LSU.But now it’s official — sort of. Although players can’t sign letters of intent until Feb. 4, Loston finally announced his decision to play at LSU during the Under Armour Skills Challenge on Jan. 2.Evans said his team will miss the presence of Loston on and off the football field.”Craig has started for us the past four years since he was a freshman, started every game,” Evans said. “The great thing about him is he’s not a selfish kid. He’s a good teammate. He gives it everything. He’s a great, great kid, and we’re going to miss him.”Loston followed up his commitment to LSU with an impressive performance at the Under Armour All-American game in Orlando, Fla., for the White Team, where he made hit after hit and almost made a one-handed, highlight reel interception.”That’s the kind of plays the kid has been making every year that he’s played,” Evans said. “With Craig, the bigger the game, the better he’s going to play. He can elevate his game.”Loston even made a crushing hit on his cousin and future teammate, who was quarterbacking the Black Team. Shepard joked about the incident.”Everybody talked to me about that,” Shepard said laughing. “But that’s just the game. I realize I’m nothing to anybody until after the game. That’s just part of football.”Shepard had plenty of good things to say about his future Tiger teammate, describing his play as physical and always around the ball.”Actually, we call him ‘The Hawk,'” Shepard said.The 6-foot-2-inch, 195-pound safety is rated as the top safety in the country by Rivals.com. He is ranked as the No. 23 player in the nation.”We call him ‘Poppa,’ but people we play against call him ‘The Hawk,'” Evans said. “You can bet that opposing receivers know they better watch out for that kid. We see it all the time  — big hits even at practice, one handed interceptions. He’s just that kid.”Evans recounted how last season Loston made several game-winning plays from interceptions to fumble recoveries.”He’s meant a lot to this program over the last four years because he played on offense and defense,” Evans said. “Y’all got a good one coming your way.”—- Contact Tyler Harvey at [email protected]