LSU, UT among West Coast stars leaders

LSU and Tennessee are traditionally two programs with the most widespread recruiting maps in the Southeastern Conference.

Heading into the summer they find themselves battling it out for one of the West Coast’s top prospects.

Pomona (Calif.) defensive end/tight end Eugene Germany says the Tigers and Volunteers are among his current top four teams. The other two are Southern Cal and Michigan. All four have offered scholarships, as well as 16 other schools including: UCLA, Oregon, Oregon State, Colorado, Colorado State, San Diego, Wyoming, Washington State, Nebraska and Arizona.

“I’m definitely high on Tennessee and LSU has been coming on strong,” he said. “I always did like Tennessee. I’ve watched them a lot on TV, and I’ve got some people back that way. I have some cousins in Mississippi and Alabama, close to there. They’re always saying I should go to school there. (The Vols) called me in May, and I’ve got something from them in the mail just about every day or two days since then. They’re staying on me hard.

“LSU is showing me a lot of attention, too. One of the reasons I really started liking them is coach (Nick) Saban came out here to see me personally. That got my attention. Another thing is they’re recruiting me as a tight end. I kind of like that.”

Asked if he had a preference between positions, Germany said it wasn’t a priority, but he was intrigued by the idea of playing on the offensive side of the ball. USC, Michigan and Tennessee project him as a defensive end or possibly a linebacker. LSU and Miami are showing strong interest in him as a tight end.

Germany (6-4, 250, 4.65) recorded 166 tackles and nine sacks as a junior. He also caught 14 passes for 321 yards and four touchdowns.

Academically, he said he hasn’t received his final grades from the past semester, but believes his core GPA will be in the 2.5 range. He took the ACT on June 14, and will go to summer school in hopes of boosting his academic profile.

Germany plans to camp at USC this weekend. He doesn’t have any other camps on his schedule.