The LSU football team isn’t making the 525-mile trip northeast to Atlanta this weekend for the Southeastern Conference Championship Game.
But the LSU coaching staff is making up for the lack of travel, scouring the state and country for high school recruits with the hopes the prospects can make the Tigers’ trek to Atlanta an annual occurrence in future seasons.
The biggest target for LSU this week was Haughton High School quarterback Dak Prescott.
LSU coach Les Miles pulled the trigger and offered Prescott, the Scout.com second-best Louisiana quarterback, a scholarship Tuesday during a visit to Haughton. Prescott is the only Pelican State quarterback prospect with an LSU offer.
The dual-threat quarterback is currently committed to Mississippi State.
“They couldn’t sit around forever and possibly lose a good guy,” said Derek Ponamsky, Bayou Bengals Insider recruiting analyst. “If Prescott wasn’t committed to Mississippi State, it would be a different story. If you lose a guy to Texas or another non-SEC school, you don’t have to see him every year.”
Prescott pledged to Bulldogs coach Dan Mullen in July, but      rumors have been swirling about the second-year coach’s future with Mississippi State. Mullen is a candidate for the recent head coach opening at Miami, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
“A lot of Mississippi State fans feel like it’s too little too late, but with most in-state kids, it may never be too late in the game for LSU,” said Shea Dixon, managing editor for TigerSportsDigest.com.
The 6-foot-3-inch, 225-pound prospect will enroll in the spring at the college he picks.
“It has to happen very quickly,” Ponamsky said. “That paperwork needs to be taken care of in the next two weeks or so.”
Prescott’s stock increased after a 12-1 senior season in which he led the Buccaneers with 2,860 yards and 39 touchdowns while rushing for 831 yards.
Prescott will visit Baton Rouge on Saturday for a family weekend with a few other Tiger recruits, according to Dixon.
The recruitment of Prescott flew under the radar with recent attention given to Butler Community College quarterback Zach Mettenberger and current Miami commitment Teddy Bridgewater.
“It was a surprise to some because people were expecting nothing to happen until Mettenberger made a decision,” Ponamsky said.
But it didn’t catch the former Georgia quarterback off guard. Mettenberger will compete for the National Junior College Championship on Sunday at 1 p.m.
“Mettenberger knew about Dak and said it doesn’t bother him,” Dixon said. “I expect him to commit [to LSU] as soon as his game ends, probably early next week.”
LSU has also been in top pursuit of Bridgewater, a Scout five-star recruit out of Miami Northwestern High School. Bridgewater is still committed to Miami, but the Tigers are in contention for the 6-foot-3-inch, 192-pound quarterback.
The Tigers already have one quarterback locked up for the 2011 class — Scout three-star recruit Stephen Rivers, the brother of San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers.
“If I’m Teddy Bridgewater, it should be eye-opening that they are recruiting Mettenberger and Prescott to come in and they still have Rivers,” Ponamsky said.
Dixon said he predicts LSU will sign Mettenberger and Prescott while Rivers will be given a greyshirt, meaning he won’t enroll until spring 2012.
 
 
 
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Contact Michael Lambert at [email protected]