Nelson adds another SEC offer

Destrehan, La., four-star athlete Jerico Nelson is at the center of one of the most intense recruiting battles in the Southeast. While many still think it's going to be tough to get him away from LSU, there's no shortage of teams that are lining up and willing to try.

Nelson, a 5-foot-10, 186-pounder that ranks as the nation's No. 7 athlete, said his top group now is Miami, Florida, LSU, Alabama and a new addition – Tennessee. LSU does have a commitment from Nelson's teammate, three-star receiver Tim Molton.

"Tennessee just offered," Nelson said. "I received the written offer in the mail (last) Wednesday. My top teams would be Miami, Florida, LSU, Alabama, and now I'm putting Tennessee in that top group."

Nelson, who rushed for 1,069 yards and 14 touchdowns as a junior in 12 games, camped this summer at Alabama, LSU and Miami, and he really enjoyed his time at each one of them.

"At the Miami camp, I won the best running back award," he said. 'At the Alabama camp I wasn't able to stay there the whole time, but I thought I did pretty good. I was only able to go to one day of the LSU camp, but I did good. All of them I went to somebody showed me around the campus and stuff. All of them were about the same. They all had great areas around the campus."

Like many other stud recruits in the Southeast, don't expect a decision any time soon from Nelson.

"I'm going to take all five of my visits," he said. "I'll probably make my decision on signing day."

Nelson said he still is excited about recruiting and all of the attention he's received – he also has offers from Arkansas, Auburn, Ole Miss, Louisiana Tech and others – but he's also pumped about his senior season.

"We're looking real good," he said. "We're ranked No. 1 in the state. We had a scrimmage last week, and we're already ready for the start of the season."