LSU football recruiting: Tigers favored to sign No. 1 overall class

A crazy amount of talent and some selective out-of-state recruiting has LSU set to land a great class.

By Bud Elliott May 13, 2013, 9:21am EDT

LSU football recruiting is off to a great start for the 2014 class, which currently includes 10 commitments. Les Miles and company finished with one of the nation's best classes in 2013, and they're trying to continue that success as the 2014 recruiting cycle starts to heat up.

It's early, but the Tigers have to be considered the odds-on favorite to sign the No. 1 overall recruiting class in the country. LSU could conceivably sign eight players rated five-stars, which would be the most by any team this century.

LSU already has the top player in Mississippi, one of the top players in Texas, leads for another in the Lone Star State, and on top of all that, it's a special year in Louisiana. And Louisiana stars rarely get away from the Tigers.

Commitments since last update: Sharieff Rhaheed, Tony Upchurch, Garrett Brumfield, D'Haquille Williams

Decommitments: None

Current verbal commitments

D'Haquille Williams, Mississippi Gulf Coast CC: Williams is absolutely ridiculous. A 6'3, 213-pound receiver who will remind many of Cordarrelle Patterson, Williams will be a consensus five-star recruit. It says something about the class LSU is assembling that he might not be the top player the Tigers sign when all is said and done.

Ed Paris, Mansfield (TX) Timberview High School: Paris is one of the top defensive back recruits in the country. He picked LSU over Texas and Florida. The 6'1, 190-pound Paris will likely end up at safety, but has excellent cover skills as well. He is a consensus five-star recruit.

And The Valley Shook on LSU's great start:

LSU continues to compile what could be the top recruiting class in the nation and one of the best in the school's history. The addition of the nation's top junior college player, wide receiver D'haquille Williams, on Friday is another big piece of the puzzle and gives LSU an immediate contributor at a position of need.

Mostly, this class could be special due to the insane amount of talent within Louisiana’s borders. While LSU is in excellent shape for just about all of the National Top-100 types in-state, they’re still waiting for a couple of those guys to commit to really get the ball rolling.

Les Miles is also doing a great job complementing the in-state kids. Texas defensive back Ed Paris is already committed, and LSU leads for arguably the top prospects from the states of Texas (Tony Brown), Oklahoma (Deondre Clark), Mississippi (Devin Voorhies) and Illinois (Clifton Garrett) and one of the best from New Jersey (Saeed Blacknall).

Garrett Brumfield, Baton Rouge (LA) University Lab: How nice it is to have a school literally on LSU's campus that produces top talent. Brumfield is another Lab project. He's a nice guard prospect at 6'3 and 275 pounds. Brumfield is a consensus four-star recruit and is one of the 15 best guards nationally.

Chris Hardeman, Houston (TX) Alief Taylor High School: Hardeman is a 5'8, 180 pound cornerback who is a consensus four-star recruit and considered a top-30 player at his position. He has scholarship offers from Georgia, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and UCLA, among numerous others.

Devin Voorhies, Woodville (MS) Wilkinson County High School: Voorhies is a consensus four-star prospect who is 6'2 and weighs 185 pounds. The athlete could play either quarterback or safety at the college level; 247Sports considers him the fifth-best safety in the class. He holds offers from Mississippi State and Ole Miss.

Will Clapp, New Orleans (NO) Brother Martin High School: Clapp, another consensus four-star recruit, is an offensive guard who stands 6'3 and weighs 280 pounds. He is ranked as the ninth-best guard in the class by 247 Sports and holds offers from Alabama and Ole Miss.

Jacory Washington, Westlake (LA) Westlake High School: Washington is 6'5 and weighs 220 pounds, and he is ranked as the 10th-best tight end prospect in the class by 247Sports. And he, too, is a consensus four-star recruit. He has offers from Alabama, Florida, Arkansas, Miami, Texas A&M and UCLA, among others.

Donnie Alexander, New Orleans (LA) Edna Karr High School: Alexander is a solid linebacker recruit who has recently bulked up to 210 pounds. He is a consensus three-star linebacker who also held early offers from Illinois and Louisiana Tech.

Tony Upchurch, Dawson (TX) Pearland High School: Upchurch is a physical three-star receiver at 6'2 and 200 pounds.

Sharieff Rhaheed, Fort Pierce (Fla.) Central High School: Outside linebacker Rhaheed is a very good fit for LSU's defense, which relies heavily on speed. He's slight at 6'2 and 202 pounds, but has very good quickness.

National Signing Day is almost a year away. Verbal commitments are non-binding and change frequently.

Top targets

Leonard Fournette, New Orleans (LA) St. Augustine School: Fournette very well could be the best player in the country. He's 6'0, 225 pounds and has the ability to do things in tight spaces that just shouldn't be done by a man of his age and size. Fournette reminds us of a better version of Willis McGahee when he ran wild at Miami. Fournette is a consensus five-star recruit. Alabama is the main competition for Robinson.

Cameron Robinson, West Monroe (LA) High School: Robinson is the top offensive tackle in the country and a consensus five-star. He moves much better than a 6'6, 330-pound high schooler should. Alabama is the main competition for Robinson.

Tony Brown, Beaumont (TX) Ozen High School: Brown is a five-star cornerback and is considered one of the five best nationally. At 6'0 and 190 pounds, he has excellent size for the position. Plus, LSU has an in: Brown's sister is on LSU's track team.

Laurence Jones, Monroe (LA) Neville High School: Jones is a 6'2, 200-pound safety. He is a consensus five-star and one of the five best nationally.

Gerald Willis, New Orleans (LA) Edna Karr High School: Willis is a consensus five-star defensive linemen. He's a bit of a tweeter at 6'2.5 and 250 pounds, but is a very good football player nonetheless. Willis is one of the 15 best defensive linemen nationally.

Clifton Garrett, Plainfield (IL) South High School: Garrett is an excellent linebacker recruit. At 6'2 and 228 pounds, he is a consensus five-star and a big hitter. As of early May, LSU is the favorite to land Garrett.

Speedy Noil, New Orleans (LA) Edna Karr High School: Noil's name is very fitting. He's a major speedster receiver, and is right on the verge of being a five-star nationally. Noil is 5'10.5 and 175 pounds. Texas A&M is probably LSU's biggest competition at this point.

Malachi Dupre, New Orleans (LA) John Curtis: Dupre is a fringe five-star receiver. He has good size at 6'2.5 and 187 pounds. Dupre is one of the five best receivers nationally.

For more on LSU Tigers recruiting, visit And The Valley Shook.