LSU Tigers

LAKE CHARLES, La. -- If one drives down West McNeese Street in Lake Charles, a town of about 75,000 people in Louisiana's southwest corner, you can't help but notice the "Brag Board" at Barbe High School's baseball field.

It mentions the six state championships the Bucs have won in Louisiana Class 5A, all since 1998. It talks about the program's numerous national rankings and its distinction of being named one of the nation's 10 best programs in the 2000s by Baseball America Magazine.

Cross the street to Barbe's football field and you'll see a beautiful prep facility, but it lacks that brag board.

Barbe, you see, is a noted baseball power, first and foremost.

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- How does a pass from Brandon Harris to D'haquille Williams sound?

There's still a long way to go, but after last weekend, that combination became more of a possibility in LSU's future.

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- LSU's spring game is usually a big recruiting weekend, and the 2013 version did not disappoint.

LSU hosted some of the biggest names in the country, landed an ESPN 150 commitment and continued to lay the foundation for 2015 by extending an offer to one of Louisiana's top players.

Here's a rundown of the day's highlights, from a recruiting standpoint.

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- GeauxTigerNation writer Gary Laney takes your questions:

Joe (Denham Springs, La.): Who are the big-name prospects coming to LSU's spring game?

Gary Laney: The spring game (2 p.m. Saturday) is always a big draw and we are working on figuring out the guest list.

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- The offers keep coming in for 2014 defensive end Davon Godchaux.

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How about this for a tailor-made banner recruiting class.

Of LSU's 10 most prominent recruiting targets, eight are from Louisiana and all 10 are in the top 100 of the ESPN 150. The other two? One is already committed to the Tigers and the other, while out of state, lives about 15 minutes from the Louisiana state line.

So yeah, LSU has a chance at a pretty good recruiting class if the Tigers can close the deal on these 10 targets:

1. RB Leonard Fournette (New Orleans/St. Augustine) 6-foot-1, 232 pounds
(ESPN 150 Rank: 1

Why they want him: Whether or not Cam Cameron opens up LSU's offense, the Tigers will still build around a power running game. And when Louisiana produces a talent like Fournette, there's no way LSU doesn't move mountains to bring him aboard. LSU clearly put its eggs in the Fournette basket by not signing a single RB in the 2012 class.

Who else wants him: Everybody, headlined by Alabama.

Odds they get him: 70 percent. Alabama leads the pack of out-of-state suitors, but we like LSU's chances given its history of using running backs and recruiting coordinator Frank Wilson's long relationship with Fournette's family.

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Rueben Randle came out of Bastrop High School in north Louisiana as the nation's top wide receiver in the Class of 2009. He went on to star at LSU and now plays for the New York Giants.

In the same class, his prep teammate DeAngelo Benton was a late qualifier on his way to Auburn, Kenny Bell was on his way to Alabama from Rayville, and Travante Stallworth, coming out of Leesville, also was headed for Auburn.

That was the last year Louisiana had a wide receiver class that even comes close to rivaling what the state is producing for the 2014 class at the position.

Louisiana has four wide receivers on the ESPN Watch List and the group likely will be the best foursome of receivers to come out of the state in the same year since ESPN started rating recruits in 2006.

In three of the six years, Louisiana did not have a highly-rated receiver prospect. This year, the state might have more elite receivers than home-state LSU has room for.

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- The numbers accumulated by 2014 wide receiver Trey Quinn (Lake Charles, La./Barbe) are hard to believe at first glance.

In three seasons playing in Louisiana's highest enrollment class, he has 245 catches -- just under 82 per season -- for 4,552 yards. In the process, he has caught 47 touchdowns, which comes to just under 16 a season.

If he has another season like 2012, when he had 2,094 yards receiving, he'll beat Dorial Green-Beckham's national career receiving record of 6,447 yards.

Yet, there are always doubters. Is he a "system" player in a high-powered offense? Is he a possession receiver?

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- When LSU landed its seventh 2014 football commitment, Tony Upchurch, on Saturday, it sent a message about LSU's recruiting area and how the Tigers will approach recruiting the wide receiver position

If there's one big take-away from the commitment, it's this ...

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The first in a series of previews of players LSU might target in the 2014 recruiting class. On Wednesday, we'll break down running backs and quarterbacks:

BATON ROUGE, La. -- So, LSU has a perception problem with its passing game?

You wouldn't know that from a quick look at who LSU is getting interest from at wide receiver.

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- When we last saw Cam Cameron on a college football sideline, he was finishing a five-year stint as head coach at Indiana with George W. Bush just finishing his first year as president and Nick Saban still a year away from winning his first national championship at LSU.

Twelve years and three NFL jobs later, Cameron is back to the college game as LSU's offensive coordinator. That means relearning NCAA rules, remembering what it's like to coach players at a different stage of development from the pros and, perhaps most importantly, there's one more aspect he'll have to get good at again.

"I'm thrilled to be back in recruiting," said Cameron, who recruited plenty in his days as an assistant at Michigan and Indiana, and then again as Indiana's head coach from 1997 to 2001.

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- It's a bit of a gamble.

LSU took no running backs in its 2013 signing class and enters 2014 with only four scholarship running backs on its roster. Given a good season by sophomore Jeremy Hill -- who will be three years out of high school by season's end and, thus, draft eligible -- LSU might lose two more at season's end (Alfred Blue is a senior).

It would have made sense to prop up the numbers this year by taking a running back. The goal is to leave a void and use it to entice 2014 star Leonard Fournette (New Orleans/St. Augustine), the top running back to come out of the state in years. If LSU lands Fournette, the gamble pays off. If not, well, the Tigers better find somebody to fill the void.

Running back headlines the list of needs LSU will be looking to address in the 2014 recruiting cycle. Here are LSU's biggest areas of need:

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- There's a perception in Louisiana that as long as LSU puts a recruiting fence around the state, so to speak, the Tigers will have a top 10-15 team annually.

There is truth to this notion, but also some exaggeration.

In most years, there are positions where LSU might feel compelled to leave the state to fill the need.

So that makes the 2014 class that much more remarkable.

Save quarterback, one can find major prospects in Louisiana at every position. This is a year when LSU can sign a great class without leaving the state. Here's how:

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- It's not official yet, but it looks like LSU will probably soon have a new offensive coordinator in Cam Cameron.

For an offense not known for its passing game, it's an interesting choice,

Known as a follower of the "Air Coryell" offense popularized by Don Coryell's late-70s San Diego Chargers teams, Cameron has a history with successful quarterbacks. At Michigan, he tutored future NFL quarterbacks Elvis Grbac and Todd Collins as QB coach from 1990-93, working alongside Michigan assistant coach Les Miles. With the Washington Redskins, he coached Gus Frerotte to his only Pro Bowl.

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