Thursday, March 25, 2010

LSU to host Junior Day Saturday; Football & Baseball Tidbits


FOOTBALL

Defensive end Chancey Aghayere has been out for the last week of spring practice.  He had a nagging shoulder injury that required surgery, and he had that surgery over the weekend.  He should be good to go in the fall, but it's unclear how much the surgery will affect his conditioning over the summer. 

Running back Mike Ford continues to look strong at practice.  I'm very interested to see how he performs on Saturday in the Spring Game. 

Les Miles continues to tout the peformance of quarterback Jarrett Lee (pictured) this spring.  While it's good to hear that Lee is practicing well, I'm awfully tentative to get excited.  Lee has always performed well in practice, but he struggles when the lights come on in an actual game.  In my opinion, the coaches should be sharing the second teams reps at quarterback with Chris Garrett.  Lee is a known commodity in game situations.  Garrett is not. 

RECRUITING

In addition to the spring game Saturday, LSU will also be hosting a number of prospects for the Tigers' second Junior Day. 

A number of LSU Commitments will be on campus to take in the festivities and help recruit other prospects.  It looks like the following guys will be in attendance:

DT Anthony Johnson - O.Perry Walker HS
RB Kenny Hilliard - Patterson HS
RB Jeremy Hill - Redemptorist HS
OL Corey White - Capitol HS
OL La'El Collins - Redemptorist HS
WR Jarvis Landry - Lutcher HS
WR Alonzo Lewis - St. James HS

In addition to those commitments, a number of other prospects will be in attendance including the following in-state prospects:

ATH Odell Beckham, Jr. - Newman HS:  Beckham is one of the top uncommitted prospects in the state of Louisiana and looks to be the top cornerback on LSU's board.  He already has an LSU offer. 

QB Zack Oliver - Catholic HS:  Oliver is the state's top quarterback prospect, and he's seeing his stock rise on the national level.  ESPN recently observed Oliver at a combine in New Orleans, and had very good things to say about him.  I suspect that Oliver will ultimately be offered by LSU. 

DT Gerrand Johnson - Rayville HS:  Johnson is a solid prospect but with four other top notch defensive tackle prospects in state, it's unlikely that he'll receive an offer from LSU anytime soon. 

TE  Quenton Griffin - Rayville HS:  Griffin is a very solid prospect who could also play linebacker at the next level.  Alabama has showed some interest in Griffin. 

S  T.K. Fleming - Benton HS:  Fleming is an outstanding athlete who is a top notch track and field prospect as a jumper.  He has good size at 6'3" 200 pounds.  Fleming currently holds an impressive offer list from schools such as UCLA, Tennessee, Oklahoma State, and Nebraska.  It sounds as if Fleming really likes LSU and would come aboard if offered. 

ATH Levander Liggins - Leesville HS:  Liggins could play either defensive back or running back in college, and he's attracting some interest from a few big name schools.

Some out of state prospects will be in attendance as well:

DE Nathan Hughes - Klein, TX:  Hughes is a big defensive end prospect and former teammate of Luke Muncie, who will join LSU's roster in the fall.  Hughes is 6'5" 260 pounds and has offers from Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Arkansas, Nebraska, Michigan, and many others.  Hughes recently stated that his Top two are LSU and Oklahoma so this weekend's visit will be big for LSU's chances.

FB Nick Lifka - IL:  Lifka is a relatively unknown prospect that is being recruited as both a linebacker and a fullback; however, LSU wants him as a fullback.  His only other offer from a BCS school is from Indiana.  Due to LSU's interest, Lifka is making the trip to Baton Rouge for the spring game.  Notre Dame has also showed interest recently. 

I'll have to keep an eye out for other prospects that show up.  Some notable in-state players are missing from the list such as OL Gregory Robinson, WR Bradley Sylve, DT Mickey Johnson and DE Jermauria Rasco. 

Last weekend, Tennessee athlete Jabriel Washington took a visit to LSU.  Washington is 5'11" 165 pounds, has great speed and is being recruited by most schools as a cornerback.  He has offers from a lot of major programs and his top two schools are LSU and Alabama. 

Ocean Springs, MS reciever Joseph Morrow took a visit to LSU on Thursday and left with an offer from Les Miles.  Morrow visited with former teammate Travis Dickson, who will be at LSU this fall.  Morrow is a big reciever at 6'4" 200 pounds.  He has offers from Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State. 

Remember to check out these prospects on The Big Board or on my Louisiana state rankings

BASEBALL

One quick baseball note is that the pitching rotation for this weekend against Tennessee has been set.  Austin Ross will pitch Friday night with Chris Matulis going on Saturday and Anthony Ranaudo starting on Sunday.  Ranaudo will start Sunday's game but will only throw around 40 pitches.

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