In an effort to continue his streak of top-10 recruiting classes, coach Les Miles hosted more than 600 high school athletes last weekend at the LSU Elite Camp, picking up three more commitments for the 2012 class.
Edna Karr offensive lineman Derek Edinburgh, DeSoto High School cornerback Jalen Mills and Morton Ranch High School defensive end Danielle Hunter pledged purple and gold at the event, bringing this year’s total to 18.
“It’s [LSU’s] big summer event recruiting-wise,” said Derek Ponamsky, recruiting analyst and publisher of BayouBengalsInsider.com. “Quite a bit of the committed players came in, and they were able to add on to the recruiting class with a couple of offers.”
The five-day camp kicked off last Saturday with a 7-on-7 offensive lineman camp, featuring the six-foot-eight, 320-pound Edinburgh.
“He’s kind of been a guy the coaching staff wants to keep their eye on because he had great size, but they wanted to see how his development was going to be,” Ponamsky said of the New Orleans native. “He spent some time with a personal trainer and reshaped his body and basically just developed more athletically.”
Edinburgh received an offer from the Tigers in late May but waited until July 19 to make his decision official.
The massive lineman was the first commit of the week, followed by the two Texas natives, who gave their verbals the next day.
Like Edinburgh, Hunter also held an LSU offer before coming to camp. The six-foot-five, 235-pound Katy, Texas, native made his commitment on the last day of drills.
“[Hunter] is a guy that the LSU coaching staff really liked,” Ponamsky said. “He’s a big guy, a well put-together guy and is what LSU was looking for. To get a guy like that out of the state of Texas, with the offer list he has, is very impressive.”
Defensive end Kendrick Adams graduates this spring, leaving room for competition at the spot in coming years.
“In this class they didn’t really have a strong side defensive end. They were looking to add somebody,” Ponamsky said. “With Ken Adams graduating at the spot, they wanted to make sure they filled it in, and so they were able to go out and get Danielle Hunter. He’s a really impressive guy.”
The final addition to the 2012 class came when Mills pledged his allegiance.
Unlike Edinburgh and Hunter, Mills impressed the Tiger coaching staff enough to receive an offer at the combine. The DeSoto, Texas, native committed on the spot.
“At the Texas camp [Mills] opened up some eyes, and there were some whispers that [Texas coach] Mack Brown was going to try to find a spot to put him into the Texas class,” Ponamsky said. “He left there without an offer, came to LSU … and was just too good to pass up.”
And just to put the icing on the cake, the Tigers reeled in their first commit for the 2013 class — Loranger athlete Jeryl Brazil took Miles up on his offer.
“All of these guys are going to be players. There’s no doubt about that,” Ponamsky said. “All of these guys are SEC caliber. It’s not like LSU reached for any of those guys. All of these guys possess the kind of traits you look for making sure you get an elite level [Southeastern Conference] player.”
——
Contact Mark Clements at [email protected]
Football: Tigers pick up three commitments at LSU Elite Camp
July 27, 2011