Louisiana Class of 2015 (Rivals top 250, Scout top 300, 247Sports top 247, ESPN top 300, Composite)

Izzy, while I recognize there are some issues recruiting North La. at the moment, your thinking on the "fandom" in that area is way off. I would say if you conducted that poll you would find that the overwhelming majority of folks are LSU fans. Even the old, black former sharecroppers in the Northeast Delta are LSU fans now.

The fandom and the recruiting are two totally separate issues here. But I guarantee you, North La. is Tiger Country.

 

No argument that North LA is vastly different than South LA. More beans and cornbread, less crawfish and redfish. Still, outside of a very small area in Bossier it is just as die hard LSU and Saints as South LA. Going to NLU and Tech games all of my life, I saw just as much, if not more LSU gear being worn than that of the respective schools playing the game. In the local department stores, it is more LSU clothing they sell and not Tech and ULM. There are no Tech/ULM stores here, but Rob Sale's dad turned a very successful camera shop into an even more successful LSU Merchandise Shop.

LSU misses out on a couple North LA recruits and all of a sudden no kid from up north wants to attend LSU, forgetting about Bradie James, Barkevious Mingo, Will Blackwell, Jordan Allen, John Diarse, Tommy LaBeau (who walked on at LSU, but could have had a scholly up North), KJ Malone, Tredavious White, Jermauria Rasco, Jarrett Fobbs, Mike Patterson, Josh Downs, Tyler Edwards, Paul Turner, Reuben Randle, Matt Branch and a shit load of others if I chose to dig through the rosters. The best of the North overwhelmingly choose LSU over other schools and that's not an opinion. A quick glance at the rosters tells you that. Just because LSU doesn't have an interest in Cameron Simms, who makes it his life's mission to sway Cam Robinson to enroll at Bama doesn't mean that North LA is no longer an LSU stronghold. Just because Jerry Tilley's family are hardcore Notre Dame fans, so of course he commits when they offer doesn't mean that LSU isn't the favorite son in Shreveport. By a large margin, LSU signs who they want from the area and history backs that up. No "thinking" or feelings involved.

Meanwhile, when guys like Kenny Young, Greg Robinson, Trovon Reed, Janzen Jackson, etc. decide to go elsewhere no one says "South LA doesn't like LSU".

You have not just been misinformed, but grossly so and frankly I'm a little tired of watching you post it over and over again and being silent about it. Just fucking stop.

 

You could also add Brandon Harris, Morris Claiborne, Tommy Banks, Luke Sanders, Rudy Niswanger, Rodney Reed, Andrew Whitworth, Jack Hunt, Kyle Williams, Eric Edwards, Chase Pittman, etc. Probably two or three more out there I couldn't think of. And although I live in central Louisiana (Rapides Parish), which is definitely all Tiger country, I know quite a few folks up in the Monroe area through work and all of them are LSU fans and wear their Tiger gear a lot. To say that the majority of folks north of Red River are anti-LSU or non-LSU fans ain't accurate. By a long shot. Having said that, there seems to be one program in particular that has definitely made some serious inroads in NELA in regards to recruiting and steering kids to leave the state. I think LSU is addressing that issue with the most recent hire of Grimes as OL coach and possibly whoever gets the ST job. Oh, and dont' forget to add Gerald Willis, Landon Collins and Speedy Noil to that South La. defections list. JMO.

 

I would say the talent PER CAPITA in north La. is about the same or greater than south La. But I would also say the defections PER CAPITA are less than south La. This was a rough year for recruiting up there, but I think there are a combination of things that contributed to that. LSU addressed it on their end with the hiring of Grimes. The NCAA addressed it with the handler. The rest is up to us...and maybe the state police if SHANE has his way.

 

How did the NCAA address the handler situation Nupe?

 

Jacob Hester was an Evangel guy who if I remember correctly lead the Tiger charge to an '07 Narional Title. Maybe i'm wrong about that though. If there's any "issues" between North and South LA... it's the Southern part of the state treating us like the red-headed stepsisters of the state with comments like "North of I-10 are yankees" type bullshit.

I'm in North Bossier and all LSU and Saints, and I know many that bleed P&G and B&G... ever heard the sayin' assumptions are like assholes?

 

I agree, N La is still a place we can recruit, getting a new OL Coach is a major plus. In 2013 we didn't sign a player out of the state of Tx. People were saying that LSU was being shutout in the state of Tx. I told people that there was no way, almost 400 kids come out of that state every year and LSU will be back. People were saying because a&m was in the SEC, they were gonna take the players we want from that state.

This year we signed 6 (Yep six players from the state of TX), looks to have a great start on next years class, in on a number of great players in Tx. LSU finished this class as well as I've ever seen a staff finish. Finished as well as any school has finished over the years.

I like the Grimes hire, the more I talk and see, the more I like. He is now recruiting for LSU, that many times gets you in the door, once in, its up to you to close the deal. When you have coaches like Cam and Chief its hard not to take a look at LSU.

I like this direction we are taking, look for it to continue. 2015 looks to be another great class, you never sign them all, but getting the players you want, an the ones that want LSU, it makes for a great mix.

LSU is a draw nationwide. Look at the USA Today newspaper the day after signing day. A large write-up, LSU on the front page with Les and "Mike the Tiger." Then on page 6-C, a 3/4 page write-up with a picture of Frank, Les, "Mike", Cheerleaders and Staff, this is major. You can't buy this kind of exposure. The write-up is titled, " Staged or Not, LSU Enjoys Day."

To add, at the bottom of this same page, it has the winners and losers from signing day, yep LSU is under the winners side. Another good write-up.

 

I've never understood why North La hasn't been heavily recruited by any school. There's talent there. Between West Monroe, Neville, Ouachita, Bastrop, Rayville and Ruston, there's talent.

How does the best team in 5A or 4A (in some years BOTH) in the state of Louisiana, have so few kids with D1 offers?