While it’s typically the LSU football team reeling the big time recruits, first-year LSU women’s basketball coach Nikki Caldwell made a splash of her own this offseason, putting together the No. 10 recruiting class in the nation, according to ESPN.com.
The class consists of three of the top-rated high school prospects, highlighted by the lone five-star forward, Krystal Forthan, who ESPN rated as the No. 5 recruit overall.
The Portland, Ore., native received offers from schools across the country, including traditional powerhouses like UCLA, North Carolina, Kansas, USC and Texas A&M, but said she chose LSU because of the family atmosphere Baton Rouge provided.
“LSU is family-oriented, and I love the way they play up and down the court and play as a team within themselves,” said the 6-foot-4 freshman. “They don’t try to showboat and go out big. I’m excited to make it and game.”
Forthan sat out her junior season at Georgetown High School in Georgetown, Texas, after transferring from Jefferson High School in Portland, Ore., due to Texas high school transfer rules.
As a senior at Georgetown, Forthan led the Eagles to a 33-4 record and the Class 5A state championship game, averaging 16 points, 10 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game en route to being named a finalist for the Naismith High School Player of the Year, a unanimous McDonald’s All-American and a Women’s Basketball Coaches Association All-American.
She joins an impressive list of former LSU players who were WBCA High School All-Americans, including Seimone Augustus, Sylvia Fowles and Allison Hightower.
“There’s a lot [of expectations],”  Forthan said. “I just have to play within myself and just keep my composure and live up to the hype. I’m going to bring more physical toughness and rebounding and points and anything I can contribute to the up.”
Forthan joins a team of five seniors – the most an LSU team has had since its Final Four run in 2007-08 – and has already begun to impress.
Senior forward LaSondra Barrett, who earned First-Team All-SEC honors last season, said she is confident Forthan can make a name for herself in Baton Rouge soon.
“Krystal Forthan looks really good,” Barrett said. “She brings a lot to our defense because she’s so long and she’s just so