Although it is always nice to see LSU recruit the studs from Louisiana, especially New Orleans given the history of our recruiting there over the past 20 years or so, it is amazing how broad our recruiting scope has become. Some of our stars hail from parts far from BR (Barrington Edwards from Bowie, Maryland; Travis Daniels from Hollywood, Florida; David Jones from Silver Springs, Maryland; and, of course, Matt Mauck from Jasper, Indiana), and it looks like this trend may continue. Here's a list of out-of-state recruits visiting LSU this weekend, per Dandy Don: Lavelle Hawkins (5'11", 180) from Stockton, CA Brandon Braxton (OL, 6'6", 305) from Youngstown, Ohio Calvin Darity (OL, 6'4", 280) from Tallahassee, Florida Herman Johnson (OL, 6'6", 360) from Denton, Texas Jordan Reever (QB, 6'2", 190) from South Garland, Texas Patrick White (QB/ATH, 6'1", 185) from Daphne, AL Marcus Walker (DB, 5'11", 190) from Waco, Texas Tony Degrate (WR, 6'1", 180) from Waco, Texas
One wekend a couple of years ago the entire visiting group was form Texas, so that's nothing new. And we always have seemed to get kids form all over, about 1 a year though. I remember we got a great OL from the Pittsburg area who became an ALL AM at LSU but for the life of me I cannot remember his name.
I think Saban has the right mix going. He builds his class with a foundation of Louisiana players and then adds some other players like(hopefully) Herman Johnson and last year Darius Ingram, who are both from areas(Dallas) close to Baton Rouge. Then you start throwing in the players from Florida and from all over....
There's even a guy on the roster from Palatine, Illinois (Greg Hercules) representing NoIll. http://www.lsusports.net/bio.cfm?ref=000CE313-7AAA-1AD2-8CF7809F2103FE77&sporttype=FB&indivtype=PL
You're probably thinking of George Atiyeh. He played nose tackle for Charlie Mac back in the late 70's and went on to play in the USFL. He was also an All-American wrestler when LSU still had a wrestling program. Atiyeh came from the western Pa. area.
