LSU could be the biggest winner at Thursday’s Under Armour all-star game, which features many of the nation’s top college football prospects.
Seven highly regarded recruits are to reveal their college choices during the game, which will be televised on ESPN at 4 p.m. The marquee player is running back Leonard Fournette of New Orleans, the nation’s No. 1-ranked prospect.
As many as five of the seven could put on LSU baseball caps and create a scenario that many in recruiting circles thought might be impossible — another school challenging mighty Alabama for the No. 1 spot in this year’s team recruiting rankings.
Alabama holds the top ranking in all four of the major recruiting services — Scout, Rivals, ESPN and 247Sports.
“There’s a lot of LSU possibilities in there for Thursday,” ESPN’s Gerry Hamilton said. “The question has been all year: Can anybody catch Alabama? It’s really only LSU because the state of Louisiana is loaded. Those guys are five-star prospects, and a lot of those guys haven’t decided.
“So if things fall right for LSU, they really have the chance to make a big gain on Alabama. I’m not sure they push to No. 1, but they can at least make it a conversation if they run the table.”
Said Scout.com’s Chad Simmons, “LSU could go 5-for-5 with five five-star recruits in a three-hour window. Now, they may only get two or three, or they may get four or five. But they are going to have a good night, regardless. And they could have a huge night.”
For elite recruits, signing day (Feb. 5 this year) always will be the best opportunity to grab the national spotlight when making a celebrated college decision. It’s one of two high-profile periods each year when mainstream football fans really pay attention to recruiting, with this week’s national all-star games being the other.
Seven blue-chippers are scheduled to announce during Thursday’s game, and 11 more will commit on NBC during Saturday’s telecast of the Army All-America Bowl from San Antonio.
It’s not as popular of a trend as it was six or seven years ago for many reasons, including that colleges recruit kids at younger ages and pressure them to commit earlier. There also is more year-round media coverage of recruiting.
However, at least from the standpoint of public perception, it’s always a good thing for colleges when a big-name recruit commits to them on national TV around a month from signing day. Thursday could be LSU’s signature moment for this year’s recruiting efforts.
“I’ve seen something like it before, one year USC got just about everybody at the Army Bowl,” Rivals.com’s Mike Farrell said. “People watch this game, and kids watch this game. The kids see them putting on a hat, and it influences them. …
“Alabama is expected to do well. But if LSU goes boom, boom, boom with getting commitments (during the game), it turns into the LSU Under Armour game. And that will really help recruiting next year.”
On Thursday, Fournette is the biggest fish, with LSU favored over Alabama to land the top player in the 247Sports composite rankings.
LSU may also be the school to beat for cornerback Tony Brown of Beaumont, Texas (also considering Ohio State), safety Jamal Adams of Carrollton, Texas (also considering Texas, Florida and Ole Miss) and defensive tackle Gerald Willis of New Orleans (also considering Alabama and Florida). It’s a tight battle between LSU and Texas A&M for wide receiver Speedy Noil of New Orleans.
All five prospects rank among the top 30 in the nation.
The two other players committing during the game are wide receiver Travis Rudolph of West Palm Beach, Fla. (Florida State favored over Alabama and Florida) and cornerback Jalen Tabor of Washington (Alabama favored over Maryland, Florida and Arizona).
