Three years ago, LSU wide receiver Russell Shepard put his coaching hat on and spearheaded the recruiting process as a senior in high school. He called other recruits across the country to make a pitch for his future home and formed relationships with his future teammates.
Tiger fans may also recall “The Fam” from the 2011 recruiting class — a group of tight-knit LSU recruits whose friendship wasn’t limited to the field.
This year’s recruit crop has similar story lines.
Much like last year’s Redemptorist tandem of La’El Collins and Jeremy Hill, Breaux Bridge duo and childhood friends Travin Dural and Lamar Louis both committed to LSU on April 5.
“We’ve been playing baseball together since we were really young. And when we got into middle school, we started playing football together,” Louis said. “A lot of people thought me and Travin were going to go to college, but that we were going to go separate ways in different directions. I don’t think a lot of people expected us both to be at LSU.”
Likewise, Edgard natives Dillon Gordon and Ronnie Feist both committed to LSU on Feb. 5, continuing the friendly trend.
“His mom works with my dad, so we’ve known each other for quite a while,” Feist said. “Our parents would joke about who would get the first offer. It’s pretty cool to know that I’ll have somebody I always knew on the team.”
Derek Ponamsky, recruiting analyst and publisher of BayouBengalsInsider.com, said a combination of more underclassmen camps at colleges along with an increase in technology has brought recruits closer together before ever stepping foot on campus.
“It’s an interesting thing. Ten years ago these guys would have met each other once at a photo shoot or something like that, and then they would fall off the face of the map,” Ponamsky said. “Now, when they’re sophomores and they go to a camp or a combine, they met each other, they swap numbers and they talk all the time.”
Recruiting experts said the trend has since evolved and spilled over onto Facebook.
The widespread popularity of social media is having major effects on the recruiting front, allowing coaches and players to communicate earlier and more often than ever before.
Rivals.com recruiting analyst Mike Scarborough said the increasing use of sites like Facebook to lure prominent recruits has completely changed the way coaches approach recruiting.
“The coaching staffs are on Facebook, and they know what those kids are doing. They know whether they have prom this weekend, and they see the prom pictures and they’re all connected that way,” Scarborough said. “Because recruiting has been sped up so much, I think it also gives them a unique visual into the mindset of prospects just by their Facebook postings.”
Shea Dixon, managing editor of TigerSportsDigest.com, agreed and said the social media aspect of recruiting takes a little bit of pressure off the coaches.
“I think [coaches] can take a backseat in not pressuring the kid as much and just let them talk to each other knowing that naturally they’re going to encourage each other to stay home,” Dixon said. “Those are the people you build your class around. You make sure you lock them up first and you’ve already got that family dynamic going that everyone attracts to.”
The strategy seems to be working so far. Eight of the nine commits LSU has for the 2012 class come from Louisiana, setting the foundation for another close crew of recruits.
Dixon added that this recurring theme stems from the summer camps colleges put on in the fall, and once the friendships form, the players become the recruiters.
“The big thing is summer camp. You get them all around each other for the first time,” Dixon said. “[LSU] already has some guys that are friends, and from there it spills over and trickles down, and everyone catches the fever and quickly becomes part of the group.”
 
 
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Contact Mark Clements at [email protected]