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Spiegelman Road Show: Notes and tidbits from the Bayou State

CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position | Team

Jalen Cook
Jalen Cook (Sam Spiegelman)
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MORE: Five Texas prospects set to emerge this spring

Texas and Louisiana recruiting analyst Sam Spiegelman hit the road in Louisiana recently and filled his notebook with recruiting notes and tidbits from the Bayou State.

LES IS MORE

Folks in Louisiana love Les Miles. Even when the Mad Hatter was out of coaching for two-plus years, he maintained a spot in LSU fans’ hearts for the championship he brought to the state.

Now, Miles is back in the coaching ranks at Kansas and he’s continuing to rely on that same Southern hospitality that helped him dominate the SEC. If you haven’t seen Miles on Twitter, then let me ask: what are you doing with your spare time? Miles interacting with Rick Ross is priceless. Those social media antics are just part of the message he’s sending out to recruits from Lawrence.

Miles kept ace assistant coach Tony Hull on his new staff at Kansas to continue to recruit The Boot. Hull is responsible for landing All-World safety Mike Lee, cornerback Corione Harris and freshman sensation Pooka Williams. All three hail from the New Orleans area. Under Miles, Hull is making an even harder push in Louisiana these days and has the attention of three- and four-star prospects alike.

Kansas was mentioned as a top school for notable three-stars like Angelo Anderson, Corey Wren, Khari Coleman, Taiwan Berryhill, Khi Mathieu and Josh Remetich, among others. Prospects credited Hull and Miles for constant communication and intriguing sales pitches that have them itching to visit Lawrence.

FOOTBALL, BASKETBALL OR BOTH FOR COOK?

Jalen Cook will first have to decide which sport he wants to play in college before choosing his ultimate destination.

Cook led the Walker High School basketball team back to the state championship game this winter and has been unable to dive head first into his recruiting process. He has only taken one football recruiting visit thus far - to LSU - largely because it’s only minutes away from his house.

Basketball programs such as LSU and Georgetown are after Cook on the hardwood, while Georgia, Auburn, Tennessee, Virginia and Colorado are among the favorites from a football standpoint.

Cook may opt to try and play both in college. Will Wade offered Cook a full basketball scholarship at LSU and Ed Orgeron is trying to capitalize on that opportunity. Virginia and others are considering following a similar blueprint, but it’s fair to label the Tigers as the early favorite for Cook due to their proximity and unique pitch.

NEW SUITORS IN THE BAYOU

One of the bright spots of being LSU was the limited competition for some of the best athletes in the state. Alabama, Texas, A&M, Clemson and Georgia are a few of the schools that have crossed the border to poach a player or two in previous recruiting cycles, but new schools are joining the race to pull Louisiana prospects out of LSU’s backyard. After all, LSU can only sign 25 players each recruiting cycle and other schools plan to take advantage.

Some of the newer schools being mentioned as suitors include Kentucky, Boston College, Virginia, Missouri and Louisville, among others.

Kentucky tabbed former Jesuit player Michael Smith as its wide receivers coach last year. The Wildcats signed quarterback Amani Gilmore out of Amite High last year and are looking to make a splash with prospects like Mathieu, Remetich and even Rivals250 athlete Ja'Khi Douglas.

It’s a similar story for Virginia, who hired New Orleans native Ricky Brumfield to make a move in The Boot. Besides capturing a national championship on the hardwood, the Cavs have been the first to offer several notable prospects, particularly 2021 players like Sage Ryan and Ah’Montae Watkins. They are also surging on the list for elite talents like Douglas and and three-star safety Ja’Darius Clark.

Colorado has also been making some early splashes with 2020 and 2021 recruits. First-year Buffs head coach Mel Tucker tabbed former New Orleans defensive wiz Cordae Hankton to his recruiting department and it’s paying off. Colorado has dished out some early offers and has the attention of of four-stars like Cook and three-stars like Clark, Mathieu and Patrick Jenkins, among others. It won’t be long before the Buffs pull a few notable names from the South.

SUMMER TIME DOMINOES

You can always count on quarterbacks locking in a decision before the start of their senior seasons, but that’s a theme for a lot of the prospects in Louisiana so far. Last year, five-star cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. made a summertime commitment back to LSU and signed and enrolled at the university right after Christmas. It appears many of the state's 2020 prospects would like to settle on a school in June, July or August as well and be done with the recruiting process before the beginning of football season.

As it stands today, two of Louisiana's top 10 prospects - Kayshon Boutte (LSU) and TJ Finley (LSU) - and six of the top 45 are commmitted. We should expect those numbers to increase drastically as the summer nears.

In fact, I would estimate that almost half of the state's 2020 crop of prospects - and potentially more - will have made a verbal commitment by September. The exceptions are some of the more high-profile prospects such as Koy Moore, Jaquelin Roy, Joel Williams, Sedric Van Pran and Ashaad Clayton.

KIRKWOOD IS ONE TO WATCH

Tyler Kirkwood has seen his recruitment take off this spring and more interest could be on the way in the coming weeks. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound wide receiver out of Holy Cross is a Boston College lean, but several programs such as Penn State, Miami, South Carolina, Iowa and TCU have also been in touch..

Kirkwood has drawn rave reviews from rival coaches as arguably the best wide receiver in the New Orleans area. Louisiana, as per usual, is stacked when it comes to skill position prospects, but Kirkwood stands out due to combination of speed, ability to run smart routes and playmaking abilities.

With so much interest from so many programs , it won’t be long before Boston College has some stiff competition for the New Orleans pass-catcher.

FOUR-STAR DE IS BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER

Brandon Williams is one of the most intriguing prospects in Louisiana's 2020 class. Despite an injury that cut his junior season short, Williams has a lightning quick first step off the line and boasts an impressive list of offers.

Williams' injury did not stop programs such as Florida, Tennessee and Texas A&M from extending offers to the four-star defensive end, and that offer sheet could continue to swell through the Spring Evaluation Period and camp season. Williams is about 10 pounds shy of his playing weight but has an improved vertical jump and recently clocked a 4.39-second 40 time.

The four-star prospect is high on Tennessee and Florida, among others, and LSU i will likely jump into the race once Williams camps in Baton Rouge.

BRADY, LSU offense generating some buzz

LSU wrapped up spring football on April 6, but the whispers about Coach O’s team are continuing to swirl. In chatting with coaches across the state the past few weeks, some major topics of conversation include the new offense, the addition of Joe Brady as the passing game coordinator and the play of Myles Brennan, Racey McMath and, of course, Stingley.

Brady has been added to the Tigers’ coaching staff from the New Orleans Saints. He’s made three- and four-receiver sets a norm so far, and coaches that swung through campus were taking notes about what he’s doing to the passing game and the offense’s tempo.

Additionally, Brennan opted to avoid the transfer portal and is sticking at LSU. Some coaches have been impressed with the redshirt sophomore quarterback’s big arm and believe he has a shot to play in 2019. One of the receivers that has received rave reviews is McMath, who prepped at Edna Karr and was clocked running a 4.3 earlier this spring. He could be a difference-maker out wide along with fellow New Orleans standouts Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson.

Lastly, Stingley is living up to the hype. He corralled a pick in his first spring game action and both players and coaches have been in awe of what they have seen from the true freshman. In other words, there will be a lot of eyes on the Tigers in 2019 as the expectations mount.

BIG SUMMER FOR BIG MEN

There was a quintet of defensive linemen that grabbed my attention during my travels in Louisiana.

Byron Turner, a 2021 defensive end, has drawn looks from LSU and Alabama, and he’ll camp with both programs in June. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound prospect is still looking for his first offer, but look for that to change in the near future.

Bishop Thomas, a 2022 defensive tackle, measured at 6-foot-2 and 290 pounds at the tail end of his freshman year. Programs such as LSU, Arkansas, Kentucky and Memphis are all keeping tabs on him.

Rising sophomore Tygee Hill is preparing for his first season as a starter for Edna Karr and is already garnering some attention from the coaches up I-10 at LSU and Georgia.

Fitzgerald West is a 2022 defensive tackle that turned heads at the Rivals 3 Stripe Camp presented by adidas in New Orleans. Tulane and Colorado have already offered, and he’s already hearing from just about every national power, including LSU, Alabama, Texas and others.

Shone Washington, a 2022 defensive tackle, has added offers from Mississippi State, Virginia and Tulane in recent weeks.

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