National Signing Day is like Christmas for college football teams, if Santa Claus sent presents through a fax machine.
After months of debate and speculation, today finally marks the day programs and their fans claim the spoils of this year’s recruiting battles when high school athletes from across the country send in letters of intent.
LSU’s 2013-14 recruiting class has seen its fair share of ups and downs, but the Tigers can still secure some major talent before all is said and done.
“There are some sleeper names out there and that’s what the fans need to realize,” said Woody Wommack, Rivals.com Southeast Football recruiting analyst. “Down the stretch, anything’s an option. … Expect the unexpected.”
LSU coach Les Miles has about 11-13 targets he’ll be watching Wednesday morning, none bigger than the five scheduled to announce their decisions on live television.
Wide receiver Malachi Dupre, linebacker Kenny Young, cornerback Adoree’ Jackson, defensive tackle Trey Lealaimatafao and defensive end Lorenzo Carter are all up for grabs and scheduled to make announcements throughout the day.
Defensive tackle Travonte Valentine’s 10:30 a.m. announcement will not be televised.
Dupre — the No. 1 receiver in the country from John Curtis High School in River Ridge, La. — and Jackson headline the crew, announcing at 9:30 a.m. and 1:10 p.m., respectively, on ESPNU. Dupre and Young are teammates at John Curtis and both heavily considering UCLA.
“I think Malachi Dupre is the guy they really need to have to sort of save face,” Wommack said.
The Tigers missed out on top-Louisiana talent this season when players like Devante “Speedy” Noil, Cameron Robinson and Laurence “Hootie” Jones opted to venture out of the state.
“The fans aren’t happy, the LSU coaches aren’t happy because it’s a ridiculous year of talent in state, and if they come away with just [Leonard Fournette], it’s really going to hurt them,” Wommack said.
Wommack said losing a high number of in-state recruits isn’t indicative of problems within a program, adding programs like Alabama and Georgia can’t possibly retain all their state’s talent either.
TigerSportsDigest.com recruiting analyst Hunter Paniagua said two of the biggest recruits to watch on Wednesday are two already verbally committed to LSU.
In the desperately needed defensive lineman position, Davon Godchaux reopened his recruiting process to take official visits to several schools despite verbally committing to LSU in September 2013.
Paniagua said he expects Godchaux to remain in Baton Rouge but had less hopes for defensive end Deondre Clark after reports surfaced that Clark is rethinking his position because his mother wants him to stay close to his home state of Oklahoma.
“They’ve got 11 guys now they’re expecting to make some kind of decision. That’s a lot of guys still up in the air for them,” Paniagua said.
Wommack predicted defensive tackle Trey Lealaimatafao will spurn the eleventh-hour push from LSU for an offer from Oregon, leaving the Tigers struggling to garner what could be deemed a successful class.