LSU Tigers

BATON ROUGE, La. -- GTN writer Gary Laney took your LSU recruiting questions:

Henry (Montgomery, AL): Gary, are there any Alabama recruits catching LSU's attention? I f not may I suggest one name? Taylor Stallworth.

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- LSU got its signing day surprise.

ESPN 150 defensive end Tashawn Bower flipped from Auburn, to Florida then LSU, sending his letter of intent to LSU late Wednesday morning.

Bower, the lone surprise in an LSU class that looked completed before lunch, capping a banner defensive line class for the Tigers, who are looking to replenish the position after losing two likely first-round NFL draft picks at defensive end (Barkevious Mingo and Sam Montgomery) and possibly another at defensive tackle (Bennie Logan). It was an adventure with Bower, who was an Auburn commit, appeared to lean to Florida Wednesday morning, then ultimately picked LSU.

What is the impact of Bower’s decision?

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- It's the end of the line for the recruiting season as signing day looms.

Key word, ‘end.’

On the eve of national signing day, defensive ends are the talk of LSU recruiting. On Monday, long-time commit Frank Herron re-affirmed his commitment to LSU after making a surprise visit to Texas.

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- It looked so simple for LSU heading into the last weekend before signing day.

With 26 committed players in the class and nobody left that wasn't already a longshot, the Tigers looked like they just might just tiptoe quietly to a relatively drama-free signing day, a No. 6 national ranking for the class looking pretty solid.

Forget that.

On the weekend before signing day, the top player in the country has visited. A handful of committed players took trips elsewhere. Never mind Duke Riley being LSU's last commitment. There's a lot more that might happen.

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- So much activity, so little resolution.

LSU hosted the nation's No. 1 player, who was considered a long shot before the weekend. He met celebrities, attended a rap concert and seemed to leave Baton Rouge with a good vibe toward the Tigers. Meanwhile, a long-time Tiger commit seemed to waver on his commitment as he took a surprise visit to another school.

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Texas is bringing in one more surprise visitor on the final weekend of official visits.

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Frank Herron and Latevius Rayford are set to sign with their respective colleges.

The two Memphis (Tenn.) East prospects will do so at 2 p.m. ET on Feb. 6, national signing day, at their school, according to assistant coach Bryan Williams.

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- With national signing day two weeks away, LSU is close to the finish line, but the Tigers still have some big names they are after:

Team needs: LSU was decimated on the defensive line by graduation and early NFL draft entrees.

The Tigers will be without six of the nine defensive linemen who played the majority of the snaps, including three potential first-round NFL draft picks, led by lightning-quick speed-rushing end Barkevious Mingo.

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- It didn't take long in the recruiting process before it began to seem like LSU would not keep its most local target on campus.

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Frank Herron has seen strong interest from several schools hoping to test his commitment to LSU, which he made in June. The defensive end from Memphis (Tenn.) Central is listening, but it doesn't seem as though he's wavering.

Still, schools keep calling.

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- When LSU got a commitment from athlete Kendell Beckwith at the Under Armor All-American game last week, it looked like the Tigers had secured the top player in Louisiana.

Think again.

The new ESPN 150/300 and team rankings came out, and while the Tigers remained at the same spot, No. 8, in the team rankings, the player rankings had some significant shuffling.

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LSU has failed to get double-digit first downs in its last two postseason games, both losses, which is a cause for concern for LSU's offensive future -- but not if the future offensive Tigers who played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl have any say.

Tight end Desean Smith and wide receiver John Diarse, two ESPN 300 performers committed to LSU, were on the West team at Saturday’s game played in San Antonio. They were two of four future LSU players on offense, along with offensive guard Josh Boutte and quarterback Hayden Rettig.

LSU was also well-represented on defense with commit Tre'Davious White playing cornerback for the West and defensive end Frank Herron, who had a sack in the game, playing defensive end for the East.

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- No LSU commit won MVP, nor scored a touchdown at the Under Armour All-American game.

Yet, it was a huge, huge game for LSU recruiting.

LSU landed its two biggest commits in its 25-man 2013 class at the Under Armor game as defensive tackle Maquedius Bain, ranked No. 43 in the ESPN 150, committed Wednesday. Kendell Beckwtih, ranked No. 19 by ESPN, then committed during the first quarter of the game Friday in St. Petersburg, Fla.

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- The commitment of Maquedius Bain to LSU on Wednesday made perfect sense.

Bain, the No. 6 defensive tackle in the ESPN 150 and the highest-rated of the Tigers' 24 commitments, figures to play at LSU early. And he'll play a position where the Tigers have a tremendous recent track record for getting players to the NFL. Part of the reason there is a need for defensive tackles in this LSU class (Bain is one of four DT commitments in the class) is the presumed early departure of junior Bennie Logan to the NFL.

If Bain does play immediately, it will continue an LSU trend: Tiger freshmen should come ready to play because many of them will play. LSU used 15 true freshmen in the 2012 season, including four who started and a fifth who was a special-teams starter.

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