LSU’s latest recruiting rumblings from the trail

The LSU football staff hosted recruits for the 2023 Southeastern Conference home opener on Saturday, and the Tiger Stadium crowd delivered on a night when the Tigers went to the wire with Arkansas in a 34-31 win.

What are the early rumblings out of the weekend?

Here’s the latest on a key commitment locking in, a 5-star’s official visit to Baton Rouge, the chase for quarterbacks, new defensive line targets and more.

*** Louisiana native Xavier Atkins, who moved to Texas for his senior season, tells The Bengal Tiger staff he’s locked in on his commitment to LSU after making a number of visits to other programs this offseason. Texas A&M was the biggest threat to the Tigers, but Atkins said he’s firm with his pledge to return to Louisiana and play for LSU.

“I’m shutting it down for sure,” he told On3 in late August. “Just thinking a lot and really realizing where I want to be at, where I want to be at. I’m from Louisiana, so it’s just a dream, man. Having an LSU offer and being committed there, just going to play, it’s every Louisiana’s kid dream. I don’t care what nobody say.”

Atkins is a four-star on the On3 rankings for the 2024 class, and a fast start to his senior season could move him even further up the national rankings this fall. With Georgia three-star linebacker Devin Smith committing to Kentucky on Friday, the Tigers come away sitting in a good spot with Atkins locking into the class.

*** Five-star athlete Terry Bussey made his official visit to LSU this past weekend. He made the visit with his guardians, and after playing a game on Friday night, he arrived in Baton Rouge to begin his official visit early Saturday morning. It was a jam-packed weekend for Bussey, which included the chance to be on the sidelines and in the locker room before and after the win over Arkansas on Saturday night Tiger Stadium.

I mentioned this in Sunday’s tidbits, but the red carpet got rolled out in a big way on Sunday when the staff was able to spend the entire day with Bussey and his camp. I’m told Bussey had a good meeting with Brian Kelly, he spent time with recruiting coordinator Frank Wilson, they had meetings with wide receivers coach Cortez Hankton and safeties coach Kerry Cooks, he got some time with defensive coordinator Matt House, and Bob Diaco, who is heading up the special teams unit, made his pitch on how the versatile five-star athlete would be used in the return game. Most teams are recruiting Bussey at safety, but LSU leaned heavily on the reality that he could compete to play on either side of the ball and will have a role on the special teams return unit if he picks the Tigers.

From speaking with trusted sources, there’s no smoke being blown here. LSU knew the Aggies were the team he nearly popped for this summer, but he held off so he could make official visits to both Alabama and LSU. Those trips are now in the books. The Tigers felt like they answered all the questions the Bussey camp had, and the weekend brought nothing but positive reviews. Now, is it enough to sway him? LSU got him to campus twice since the summer, but the Aggies have gotten Bussey to campus more than five teams over the past year. The ball is now in Bussey’s court. If he picks the Aggies, it won’t be a surprise. If it’s LSU, that means the staff pushed the right buttons on this official visit. Sources I’ve spoken with want to see where things stand after he gets home, talks with all three schools and then buckles into his decision. We should know more in the coming days as Bussey isn’t the type of recruit who is going to leave any staffs in the dark. So, stay tuned for our final predictions as to whether or not LSU managed to leapfrog the Aggies. We’re leaning Texas A&M unless we hear something different across the coming days.

The No. 2-ranked athlete in the On300 for the 2024 recruiting cycle is set to reveal his college decision on Thursday at 3:45 at Timpson (Texas) High School. Texas A&M, LSU and Alabama are joined by Texas and Oklahoma as his finalists.

*** 2025 prospect George MacIntyre, the nation’s No. 2 quarterback prospect, made two trips to Baton Rouge this offseason. Now, he’s made two trips to Tiger Stadium over the past year, and both times he got a great feel for Death Valley at night. First, he saw LSU knock off Alabama in overtime a year ago. Then, he was in the stands this past weekend for a back-and-forth SEC West bout with Arkansas that kept the crowd in the game until the end. Those are the types of environments recruits hear about when Tiger Stadium is mentioned, so it’s good MacIntyre got to experience it twice.

As for where things stand, he’s not going to make a decision until after his junior season. I still feel it’s a battle between LSU, Alabama and Tennessee. The good news for LSU here is games are being played, and the MacIntyre camp is well aware of how well the offense is clicking in Baton Rouge. LSU remains a Top 10 offense nationally, Jayden Daniels is averaging the fourth-most passing yards per game in the country, and Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. both rank in the Top 10 nationally in receiving touchdowns. LSU quarterbacks coach Joe Sloan was able to sit down with MacIntyre and his father on Sunday and go over film on the LSU offense as well as film of MacIntyre’s senior season, which allowed Sloan and the staff to make a clear pitch for how he would be used in Baton Rouge. There’s growing optimism here that with Alabama and Tennessee ranking at the bottom of the SEC in passing yards per game, and LSU sitting at the top, the Tigers are seeing the pitch to quarterbacks grow stronger each week.

*** LSU heads on the road for back-to-back SEC games against Ole Miss and Missouri, then will be back in Tiger Stadium to host Auburn on Oct. 14. One of the headlines visitors on the weekend will be 2025 five-star Bryce Underwood, who is ranked as the No. 1 overall prospect in the class. Underwood will be joined on the trip by his friend and 2025 teammate Adrian Walker. Underwood visited Baton Rouge three times in four months this offseason, but this will be his first visit for a game in Tiger Stadium. He’s made trips to Colorado and Penn State already for games, so this Death Valley trip will be a big one for LSU. Michigan is obviously the in-state team very much in the mix. From what I gathered, his top four – unless a team like Alabama jumps back in after getting him for a campus visit – could well be LSU, Michigan, Penn State and Colorado. I still feel like LSU’s in good shape here, and for a couple reasons. One, the relationships are there with how often his family came down to visit with Bryce this offseason. Then, as mentioned above with George MacIntyre, the Underwood camp is seeing how LSU’s offense – and notably passing offense – looks this year. It’s one of the best in college football, and they can sell that right now with how well Jayden Daniels is playing. A decision won’t come here until January, but all eyes are on getting him back to campus for LSU’s next home game.

*** On3’s No. 2 wide receiver for the 2025 class is Mississippi’s Caleb Cunningham, and he was in Tiger Stadium on Saturday night for LSU’s win over Arkansas. LSU already has a five-star committed in Dakorien Moore, and they had five of the nation’s Top 20 wide receivers for the 2025 class on campus for the Bayou Splash recruiting event in late-July. LSU wide receivers coach Cortez Hankton is setting the Tigers up for what should be a really nice haul next cycle. There’s some guys in Louisiana they have offered, but there are also out-of-state targets in spots like Texas, Mississippi and Florida that they have made some early inroads with. Continuing to get guys like Cunningham to visit for games this fall is key.

*** Two LSU commitments made unofficial visits to Texas A&M this weekend in Duncanville 2024 running back Caden Durham and 2025 wide receiver Dakorien Moore. LSU was aware of both visits as they had talks with Durham and Moore beforehand. I don’t sense there’s any worry with Durham. Frank Wilson made the four-star his lone running back target, and he picked LSU over Texas A&M and Oklahoma just one month ago. As for Moore, we know it’s a long way until National Signing Day for a high school junior. He’s already visited LSU, Texas and Texas A&M this season, so he’s going to make visits. It’s about holding on. If the offense can keep clicking and the 2025 class starts to add more high-end talent, you feel better as an LSU fan about holding onto one of the nation’s best wide receivers. Expect both these guys back for another LSU game this season.

*** LSU has two defensive linemen (Ahmad Breaux and De’Myrion Johnson) and one EDGE rusher (Kolaj Cobbins) committed for the current 2024 cycle. The Tigers want to add more commitments to the group, and a trio of new offers went out over the past two weeks. First, Missouri commitment and Alabama three-star Jaylen Brown got offered by LSU. Then, Missouri commitment and Florida four-star Elias Williams landed an offer from the Tigers. LSU is currently in talks with both about a campus visit for a game this fall, sources tell The Bengal Tiger staff.

On Sunday, the LSU staff offered JUCO defensive tackle Shone Washington, a New Orleans native who was once committed to the Tigers before ultimately signing with Georgia. He spent one season in Athens in 2022 before hitting the NCAA Transfer Portal this offseason. He’s spending the 2023 season at East Mississippi Community College, then will bounce back to an FBS program with three years of eligibility remaining. After spending time around Washington this past weekend, and getting in some early-season evaluations, the Tigers felt good about offering him a scholarship. We think it’s only a matter of time before the New Orleans native winds up in LSU’s class. Stay tuned here.

*** Texas offensive lineman Jaylan Beckley returned to campus with his entire family for the game this past weekend, and it certainly made a big impact on his recruitment. I’ve spoken with Beckley numerous times over the past few months since he picked up the LSU offer at camp, and Brad Davis has done a really good job recruiting him. He’s going to be one of the 2025 offensive linemen to keep a close eye on. On Sunday, he told The Bengal Tiger staff that LSU, Clemson, Duke, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, SMU, Baylor and Missouri are the programs he talks with the most.

*** The more sources I speak with, the more I hear confidence in Lafayette Christian Academy star and LSU commitment Ju’Juan Johnson‘s future in purple-and-gold. There doesn’t seem to be much concern about his ability to move from a high school quarterback to college defensive back, which is a big need for the Tigers. When he earned the LSU offer at camp, he was playing cornerback alongside older guys like four-star Daylen Austin, and he moved just as well when it came to flipping his hips and turning to run with receivers. There will be a learning curve as he makes the transition to defense once he gets to campus, but the LSU side is sky high on him as a prospect. He’s still got a shot to break former Evangel quarterback Brock Berlin’s record for most yards on offense by a player in Louisiana high school history, so there’s no doubt that he’s one of the Bayou State’s elite. It’s good to hear there is confidence in him being a future starter at cornerback, which is a big position of need this cycle.

*** I’ve also asked multiple coaches around Louisiana their opinion on the best prospect in the state’s 2024 class. There’s a handful of names mentioned, but the recruit many feel has the highest upside is Zachary four-star tight end Trey’Dez Green. He had another big game this past weekend, and at 6-foot-6.5, 230 pounds, he’s a mismatch nightmare with his athleticism. Green was a high-level basketball prospect who picked up college offers (including LSU), but as he focuses more on football, he’s progressing at a rapid rate. On3 just bumped Green nearly 100 spots to put him as a Top 40 overall prospect nationally. Don’t be surprised if he knocks on the door of five-star range, but also battles to finish as the No. 1 prospect in Louisiana and – potentially – jockey with Caleb Odom as the No. 1 tight end this cycle. LSU’s getting a great one here.

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