LSU Tigers: Alabama Crimson Tide
"You don't get enough reps," he said. "You get a rep, then you wait around while other quarterbacks throw. I'd much rather be throwing with my [high school] teammates. I like to make every rep count."
It's funny Harris would say that because camps have been so good to the Bossier City (La.) Parkway High 2014 quarterback. Camp performances have played no small role in why he's gone from being a relative unknown to being the fastest-rising player in the ESPN 300 who will soon choose a college out of a who's-who list of suitors.
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Top-rated defensive end Da'Shawn Hand (Woodbridge, Va./Woodbridge) has kept his recruitment under control and organized. He had narrowed his list down to five schools but has since shaken up that group and trimmed his list to three.
Alabama, Florida and Michigan, listed in alphabetical order, make up the final schools he will consider. The No. 4 player in the ESPN 150 said these are the final three, with two more still having an outside shot.
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Kizer wastes little time with Irish offer
Toledo (Ohio) Central Catholic quarterback DeShone Kizer said last week that Notre Dame exceeded the criteria he was looking for in a school. When Notre Dame offered a few days later on June 5, the Irish immediately jumped into his top group.
Following a weekend visit to South Bend, the 6-foot-5, 208-pound signal-caller, the No. 6 ranked dual-threat quarterbacks nationally, committed to Notre Dame. Central Catholic coach Greg Dempsey confirmed the commitment of his four-star and Elite 11 quarterback.
- DeShone Kizer
- Quarterback: Dual threat
- 2014
- Committed: Notre Dame
| Pos Rk | Stars | Grade | Hometown |
| 6 | 83 | Toledo, OH |
This commitment is welcomed news for Notre Dame, which has not had much positivity around the position the last few weeks. Everett Golson, who led the Irish to the national championship game last season, was suspended from school in late May. A few days later, ESPN 150 quarterback Kyle Allen, who many felt could end up signing with Notre Dame, pledged to Texas A&M.
Former backup quarterback Gunner Kiel, a member of the ESPN 150 in 2012, left the program this spring as well.
Ohio has been kind to the Irish the past two recruiting classes. In the 2013 class, Malik Zaire of Kettering (Ohio) Archbishop Alter signed with the Irish and enrolled in January.
Later this month, Kizer will compete at the Elite 11 finals after taking top honors in a regional event in Columbus, Ohio, on June 1. LSU coaches Les Miles and Cam Cameron watched Kizer at the event.
Kizer is the 11th commitment in the Irish’s 2014 class and is the latest piece to what is becoming a stellar offensive haul. Four-star running back Elijah Hood and four-star offensive tackle Alex Bars are both members of the ESPN 150, and Sam Mustipher (No. 11 guard), Justin Brent (No. 38 receiver) and Quenton Nelson (No. 19 guard) are also four-star recruits. Three-star offensive tackle Jimmy Byrne is also committed.
Notre Dame’s class ranks No. 8 nationally but could move up with Kizer’s commitment.
SEC recruiting has home-field advantage 
Recruiting is the lifeblood of every program in the country, and every conference has its own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to landing top prospects. In the start of a weeklong series, we'll examine the BCS conferences plus Notre Dame to find each's strength, the biggest obstacle each faces and the overall view of the conference. The SEC is up today.
Biggest obstacle: When it comes to recruiting in the SEC, the biggest obstacle arguably comes from within. No conference recruits as consistently strong from top to bottom as the SEC and the margin for error is very small. From 2006 through 2013, the SEC has had no fewer than six programs finish within the top 25 of the class rankings in any given year, and the 2013 final class rankings saw all 14 teams finish in the top 40, including 10 in the top 25. A program could be having good success on the recruiting trail and still find itself in the middle or even the back of the pack. Mississippi State, for example, finished with the 25th-ranked class this past cycle only to finish 10th within its own conference.
Being able to recruit as a member of the SEC brings with it many benefits, but as a result of that there are no weak links among SEC teams on the recruiting trail. Alabama has posted back-to-back top-ranked classes and a group that includes programs such as Florida, Georgia and LSU are usually top 10-15 staples, if not top class contenders themselves year in and year out. Other programs within the SEC have shown the ability to have success and even make a big impact as well. Ole Miss this past cycle broke from the pack to land a top-five class that included the nation's top-ranked prospect (Robert Nkemdiche). Even Vanderbilt, long considered a back-of-the-pack staple, made a surge on the recruiting trail as well under the direction of James Franklin and finished with a top-25 class for 2013.
Competition on the recruiting trail is tough all over, but in the SEC it has proved to be extremely fierce and a class that would be great in any other conference simply might not be good enough as a member of this conference.
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No, it doesn't mean Zach Mettenberger is being challenged as the starter. It does mean LSU is hot on the trail of some four-star talent at the position in recruiting.
Which one do you like?
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With baseball and basketball now done, he will finally have his first opportunity to see both schools up close next week.
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The fourth-ranked player in the nation and top-ranked defensive end, Hand was in town as part of the Columbus Nike Football Training Camp.
He left with an invitation to The Opening -- his second in as many years -- and even snuck in an unofficial visit to Ohio State the day before.
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QB Harris talks Bama, Ohio State visits
It’s been quite the week for four-star quarterback Brandon Harris (Bossier City, La./Parkway). He made a stop at Alabama on Thursday before flying up to Columbus, Ohio, to visit Ohio State and compete in the Elite 11 this weekend.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The 2013 Nike Elite 11 tour continued in the Midwest on Saturday as several top players from not just Ohio but the entire country flocked to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Ohio State’s campus to compete for a spot at the finals later this month.
RecruitingNation writer Jared Shanker attended the camp. Here is what he learned:
LSU should have a clearer picture at QB
College coaches are not allowed to attend the Elite 11, but an exception was made on Saturday for LSU coach Les Miles and Tigers quarterbacks coach Cam Cameron. Both coaches had a son participating at the Elite 11, which allowed for Miles and Cameron to stand on the sidelines. The two spent most of the afternoon chitchatting with staff, media and even Norv Turner, but there is a good chance their eyes wandered toward the direction of four-star quarterbacks Brandon Harris (Bossier City, La./Parkway) and DeShone Kizer (Toledo, Ohio/Central Catholic). Both have LSU offers, and Kizer will visit next week. Kizer earned the ticket to the Elite 11 finals, but Harris was not far behind and could still land an invite.
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All three are from New Orleans, which, as a metropolitan area, has not been the most loyal Louisiana city to the Tigers.
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Moments later, Blacknall was lying on his back, forced to watch the college coaches walk out of the stadium with any hope of a scholarship leaving with them.
“Ever see the Joe Theismann play? That’s what happened to me,” he said. “I went up the middle, went to the left, planted my foot and the linebacker held me and spun me and my leg stood where it was. ... My knee was backward, leg was backward and my foot turned around.”
He has a second chance now -- one that has come through his son Saeed Blacknall, an ESPN 150 receiver out of Manalapan (N.J.) High School. And Saeed is taking that chance very seriously.
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MANVEL, Texas — Though he spends his falls mostly on the defensive side of the ball, Manvel (Texas) High School 2014 prospect Koda Martin got a chance to work on his receiving and route-running skills while lining up on offense on Saturday at his other high school position, tight end, during the Maverick 7-on-7 state qualifying tournament at Manvel High School.
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They could probably tell you their favorite play by the "Honey Badger," Tyrann Mathieu, and they've seen the exploits of BenJarvus Green-Ellis on NFL Sundays.
Indeed, St. Augustine, New Orleans' historically African-American all-boys Catholic High school, has a rich history of stars including the two mentioned above.
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Since that time, 34 other programs have offered Walker. While Walker says all schools are now even, three coaching staffs have been able to connect with him the best so far. The 2015 prospect almost committed to one of them a few months back.
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ABOUT GEAUX TIGER NATION
Gary Laney
Gary Laney joined ESPN.com in 2012 after spending a year and a half as online sports editor of the Baton Rouge (La.) Advocate. Before that, he covered LSU sports for the Advocate. He has also been the sports editor at the Beaumont (Texas) Enterprise and covered McNeese State athletics for the Lake Charles (La.) American Press. Laney currently lives in Baton Rouge. Email him at glaneyespn@gmail.com