5/17/12 5:55 am CDT

Good morning, Tiger Fans.

Here's a little good news in football recruitment to start this update – yesterday LSU picked up its 10th commitment for 2013 in JUCO wide receiver Quantavious Leslie. Leslie is a seasoned 6-4, 190 receiver who originally signed with West Virginia out of high school but didn't qualify and decided to go the junior college route. Last year at Hines Community College, Leslie had 28 catches for 523 yards and 10 touchdowns. In my opinion, Leslie is a great catch and is the type of big-target, experienced receiver who can step in and benefit the team immediately.

I’ll have a lot more on football recruiting below, but first I want to remind you all that the extremely important SEC baseball series against South Carolina begins today instead of tomorrow. Tonight’s game starts at 6 p.m. CT and will be televised by Fox Sports South. Tomorrow's game also begins at 6 p.m. CT and can be seen on Cox Sports Television. The series will conclude Saturday with a noon CT game that will be televised on ESPNU.

I call this “weekend’s” series extremely important not only because it could determine the overall SEC champions (with a little help from Mississippi State who plays Kentucky), but because it will likely determine whether LSU receives a national top-8 seed in the NCAA tournament. A couple of weeks ago, LSU was listed in almost every early national projection as a top-8 seed, but after losing the home series to Vanderbilt, all that changed. Now the Tigers find themselves in a situation where they almost have to win this weekend's series to earn a national seed.

Tonight’s game has all the markings of a great contest and will feature two of the nation’s best pitchers in LSU's sophomore right-hander Kevin Gausman (8-1, 2.95 ERA, 91.2 IP, 112 SO/21 BB) and South Carolina’s junior left-hander Michael Roth (5-0, 2.60 ERA, 86.2 IP, 66 SO/27 BB). Based on the way Gausman has been pitching lately, I think it’s safe to say he gives LSU its best chance of victory, so it's very important that the Tigers win tonight's game and take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Now back to football recruiting.... last week I gave you my thoughts on LSU's commitments and targets on the defensive side of the ball, and below is a bit on the offensive prospects.

OL
LSU currently has commitments from Josh Boutte (6'5", 300, Westgate High, No. 23 on our list) and Karl Malone, Jr. (6'4", 285, Cedar Creek, No. 33 on our list) and is pursuing other top-instate OLs in Ryan Hoefield (6'3", 270, Brother Martin, No. 9 on our list) and Kenneth Santa Marina (6'6", 340, McDonough, No. 14 on our list). Out-of-state OLs being pursued include Kent Perkins (6'6", 285, Dallas, TX) Brandon Kublanow (6'3", 290, Marietta GA), Hunter Bivin (6'7", 280, Owensboro, KY) and Bryce King (6'4", 290, Dillon, SC). LSU is probably aiming to sign 4 to 5 OLs in this class. 

WR
As mentioned earlier in this report, LSU picked up its 10 commitment for the 2013 class yesterday in Quantavious Leslie (6'4", 190) from Hinds Community College. LSU also has commitments from Tredavious White (WR, 5'11", 175, Green Oaks, No. 29 on our list) and Chuck Baker (WR, 6'2", 190, Salmen, No. 47 on our list), plus John Diarse (ATH, 6'0", 200, Neville, No. 2 on our list) who could play on either side of the ball, as a receiver or a safety. LSU is also pursuing Rickey Jefferson (WR, 6'0", 190, Destrahan, No. 3 on our list) who is Jordan Jefferson's brother and a great prospect. There are also another one or two JUCO receivers on LSU's radar, plus Josh Harris (5' 10", 170) from Denton, TX. LSU will likely sign five receivers in this class.

TE
Desean Smith (TE, 6'5", 225, Barbe, No. 1 on our list) is LSU's primary target at tight end and currently lists LSU as his leader with Alabama a close second. Smith has great size and great hands and will make a super receiving tight end. Another great in-state TE LSU is recruiting is Brian Bridgewater (6'6" 220, No. 30 on our list), but he is also highly recruited in basketball. Two other TEs that LSU was recruiting heavily – Standish Dobard and Mike Heureman – have committed to Miami and Notre Dame, respectively.

RB
LSU is pretty loaded at running back, but will likely take one or two more in this year’s class. Adam Taylor (6'2", 200, Katy, TX) recently announced on Twitter that he had committed to LSU, but there is some question as to whether LSU had extended a committable offer. I believe Taylor wants to be a Tiger and that LSU wants him too, but it appears that the staff wants to first confirm that he has fully recovered from a knee injury he suffered last year. LSU also has a commitment from Jeryl Brazil (5'10", 180, Loranger, No. 8 on our list) who is the fastest man in the state, and he could be used as a running back, although his specialty will likely be special teams. Brazil is also a great CB. Out-of-state RBs on LSU's radar, in addition to Taylor, include Greg Bryant (5'11" 200, Delray Beach, FL), Ryan Green (5'10", 195, St. Petersburg, FL) and Kailo Moore (5'11", 185). Moore is also a track-star speedster.

QB
A few big-time quarterbacks that LSU was heavily recruiting have committed to other schools, the most recent of which is Cooper Bateman of Salt Lake City, UT who committed to Alabama yesterday. Others are dual-threat quarterback J.T. Barrett of Wichita Falls, TX, who committed to Ohio State, and pro-style quarterback Connor Mitch of Raleigh, NC, who committed to South Carolina. Uncommitted quarterbacks being recruited by LSU at this time include Riley Ferguson (6'2" 190, Matthews, NC), Shane McCarley (6'0, 200, Manvel, TX), Cord Sandberg (6'3", 210, Bradenton, FL), Max Staver (6'6", 238, Brentwood, TN), and Cody Thomas (6'5" 200, Colleyville, TX). LSU will likely sign one or two QBs in this class.

I hope you all enjoyed this recruiting recap. As always, I welcome your comments and feedback.

Breaking News 12:40 pm CDT

LSU gets its 10th commitment in JUCO WR Quantavious Leslie (WR, 6'4", 190). Great catch! More in tomorrow's report. In the meantime, here's his highlight video.

5/16/12 5:50 am CDT

Good morning, Tiger Fans. It was nice hearing from so many of you who enjoyed the recruiting information I posted yesterday. I really appreciate your comments and feedback.

The LSU baseball team beat Nicholls State 9-6 last night, and I’m hoping the victory was just what was needed to put the Tigers back on a winning track. The Tigers held a comfortable 9-2 lead heading into the ninth inning, and then gave up four runs on four hits in the final frame.

Kurt McCune was the Tigers’ starting pitcher, and though he started a little rusty he ended with a pretty good outing. McCune went five innings, gave up two runs on six hits, struck out one, walked one, and hit one. Kevin Berry pitched one perfect inning in relief, striking out two of the three batters he faced before being replaced by Joe Broussard who pitched well for two scoreless innings allowing only one hit and striking out three. Nick Rumbelow and Nick Goody combined to pitch the final inning and each gave up two runs. Goody hasn't been his normal dominating self in his last two outings, and that has me a little concerned, although he did strike out the last two batters he faced last night with runners on second and third.

The Tigers were led at the plate by Austin Nola who has been on fire ever since being moved to the leadoff spot last Sunday. In his first game leading off, Nola went 2-for-2 and reached base four times. Last night, Nola went an incredible 4-for-4 and reached base five times. Mason Katz also had a great night at the plate and went 2-for-5 with four RBI, thanks to his three-run homer in the bottom of the 6th. Tyler Hanover went 2-for-3 with one RBI.

With the win, LSU has accomplished two very significant objectives – winning 40 games in the regular season, and going undefeated in mid-week games this season (14-0). LSU has only won 40 games in a single season twice since 1988. In 2004 and in 2009, LSU won 40 games and went to the College World Series, and in 2009 they won it all.

In other baseball news, yesterday it was announced that all three games of this week’s very important LSU-South Carolina series in Columbia, S.C. will be televised. Thursday’s game begins at 6 p.m. CT and will be televised by Fox Sports South. The game can be seen in Louisiana on Fox Sports Houston and Fox Sports Southwest. Friday’s game begins at 6 p.m. CT and will be produced by the Jumbo Sports Network. The game can be seen on Cox Sports Television. Saturday’s game begins at Noon CT and will be televised nationally on ESPNU.

In football-related news, congratulations are in order for one of my childhood heroes, Charles Alexander, who was named to the prestigious College Football Hall of Fame yesterday. Alexander was a two-time All-American and Heisman Trophy finalist who played at LSU from 1975-78.

Some of my earliest football memories include going with Dad to Tiger Stadium to see my hero, “Alexander the Great,” play for the Fighting Tigers. I was only seven and eight years old back when Alexander earned All-American honors and was in the running for the Heisman Trophy Award. Alexander finished ninth in the Heisman race as a junior and fifth as a senior.

During his time at LSU, Alexander set nine SEC records and tied for another. At the end of a stellar career that included a pair of All-America and All-SEC honors, his name sat atop 27 LSU records. Alexander still holds the school records for most rushes in a game (43), most yards in a season (1686) and most yards gained per game in a season (153.3). He was selected with the 12th pick in the first round of the 1979 NFL Draft by Cincinnati and played in Super Bowl XVI.

Alexander will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame during ceremonies at the historic Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City in December. He will become only the eighth player in LSU history to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, and he will be one of just four living LSU members, joining Billy Cannon, Tommy Casanova and Jerry Stovall.

Reader comments: Here's a good LSU Football "Spring Wrap" by ESPN.com.

Reader comments: Rene Nadeau has come up with another gem for the Tiger faithful. Enjoy his predictions!

5/15/12 5:50 am CST

Good morning, Tiger Fans.

After losing two out of three to Vandrebilt last weekend, LSU dropped to No. 9 in Baseball America and USA Today/ESPN’s rankings, but held steady at No. 4 in Collegiate Baseball's poll. South Carolina, LSU's opponent in this weekend's very important series, came in at No. 2 in Baseball America and USA Today/ESPN, and at No. 3 in Collegiate Baseball.

LSU will enter the final regular-season weekend at South Carolina one game behind Kentucky and a half-game behind South Carolina in the overall SEC standings. LSU has already clinched at least a No. 2 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament as the Western Division champion, but the Tigers have their sights set on bigger things including an overall SEC championship and a national seed in the NCAA tournament. For LSU to win the overall SEC race, the Tigers will have to win at least two of the three games at South Carolina and gain a game on Kentucky who concludes their regular season schedule this weekend with a series in Starkville against Mississippi State.

Yesterday I expressed my concern about this way the team played last weekend, but one player who deserves a lot of credit is Kevin Gausman who pitched an exceptionally strong game in Friday's win. Because of his brilliant outing, Gausman was named SEC Pitcher of the Week. Gausman threw 123 pitches and recorded the first complete game by an LSU pitcher since May 13, 2011, and in it he limited the Commodores to only one run on five hits (all singles) and struck out 11. Hats off to Gausman. Here's hoping for a comparable outing this Friday night.

LSU will return to action today for their last home game of the regular season as they take on Nicholls State at 6:30 p.m. Kurt McCune (2-4, 4.21) will get the start for the Tigers. The game will not be televised, but those of you who want to keep up with the action can listen on the LSU Sports Network or follow us (@dandydonlsu) on Twitter. I will be tweeting periodic updates throughout the game.

Before moving on to football recruiting, today I'd like to touch on a couple of topics that I should have mentioned yesterday - the success of LSU's softball team and track and field programs.

LSU’s softball team is gearing up for NCAA regional play in College Station, and I would like to congratulate Coach Beth Torina for leading her team there in her first year as head coach at LSU. Torino’s Tiger team is 34-22 overall and 15-13 in the SEC. This will be the second consecutive season in which the Tigers have gone to College Station for Regional play. Last year they were knocked out by Texas A&M. This year the Tigers will open against Texas State of the Southland conference Friday at 4 p.m. Last week the Tigers were knocked out during the first round of the SEC tournament by Florida.

Congratulations are also in order for LSU's track programs. LSU's women won their fifth outdoor SEC championship in six seasons, and the men finished second behind Arkansas. The women’s success was due in large part to the record-breaking performance of junior Kimberlyn Duncan who won the 100-meters with an SEC Championship record time of 10.96 seconds.

In football recruiting news, this week we'll take a look LSU's current commitments, needs and targets. Today we start with the DL/DE, LB, and DB positions. Tomorrow, or later this week, we'll conclude with the OL, WR, RB and QB spots. Please note that there are undoubtedly more players being recruited by LSU than the ones mentioned below. I will continue to periodically give you more names as I hear them.

DL/DE
LSU will likely sign five or six defensive linemen or defensive ends in this year's class and currently has commitments from Michael Patterson (DE, 6'5", 240, Winnfield) and Tevin Lawson (DT, 6'4", 285, Denham Springs). Coach Miles would probably take one or two more DEs among Kendell Beckwith (6'3", 210, East Feliciana), Tim Williams (6'3", 225, Baton Rouge), Lewis Neal (DE, 6'1", 232, Hunt, NC) and Robert Nkemdiche (6'5", 250, Loganville, GA) who is the top-rated prospect in the country. I hope that LSU will also pursue David Elias (6'3, 263", Dutchtown) who is No. 6 on our list of Top LA Football Prospects and is listed at a DE but appears to be growing into a defensive tackle. Other defensive tackles on the radar include, but are not limitted to, Greg Gilmore (6'4", 270, Hope Hills, NC) and Rod Crayton (6'2", 290, Dadeville, AL),

LB
After pursuing linebackers heavily in last year’s class, LSU will probably only sign one or two this year. Duke Riley, who is No. 7 on our list of Top LA Football Prospects, is a great one and I understand he is leaning to LSU. Kendell Beckwith from East Feliciana, mentioned above as a DE, could also play linebacker. Out-of-state linebackers with LSU offers include E.J. Levenberry Jr. (6'3" 226, Woodbridge, VA) and Naashon Hughes (6'4" 210, Harker Heights, TX).

DB
LSU will likely sign three or four defensive backs and currently has a commitment from Jeremy Cutrer (DB, 6'2", 180) from Jewel Sumner who is No. 20 on our list of Top LA Football Prospects. LSU is also pursuing one of the top-ranked defensive backs in the nation in Priest Willis (S, 6'2", 190) of Tempe, AZ. Others on the radar that I know of include Antonio Conner (S/RB, Batesville, MS) and Maurice Smith (S/WR, Fort Bend, TX).

I welcome your comments and information on recruiting.