Please read this important message from Dandy Don!

1/27/12 5:55 am CST

Good morning, Tiger Fans.

With National Signing Day only five days away, things are surprisingly quiet on the recruiting front. LSU currently has 21 commitments and is widely expected to sign 25 in this class, but who the remaining four will be is far from clear. At this point, the two most likely players to commit to LSU are the two prospects from Oxford, AL - four-star outside linebacker Kwon Alexander, and defensive back Trae Elston. I'd say LSU's chances are pretty good for those two. LSU continues to recruit safety Corey Thompson from Missouri City, TX and five-star JUCO wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson from Hutchinson Community College, but I would not be surprised to see Thompson follow in his father's footsteps and attend Texas A&M. As for Patterson, he has remained quiet and is expected to announce his three finalists this weekend. One other player whose name has begun to surface is quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe from Houston, Texas, and while I'm sure that he has great interest in LSU, I haven't confirmed that the interest is mutual.

With things as quiet as they are, and with so few new names surfacing, I suspect that Coach Miles has a couple more players that he feels confident of signing. Often there is a surprise or two on National Signing Day, and I'm hoping that will be the case this year.

Speaking of National Signing Day, I encourage those of you in the area to show your support for LSU football by attending the annual recruiting bash. Scott and I will be there, along with my grandson John, and we hope to meet many of you there. Below is additional info on the event:

The 17th Annual Tiger Gridiron Club Bayou Bash recruiting party will be held Wednesday, February 1, at the Baton Rouge River Center, and will be bigger and better than ever. Tickets can be purchased at an advanced price of $30, or you can purchase them the day of the event for $45. Tickets are on sale now atwww.ticketmaster.com (800-653-8000) and the River Center Box office. Doors will open at 8:30 am. Breakfast, lunch and drinks will be provided by local area restaurants, Coca Cola and Mockler Beverage Budweiser. The Golden Band from Tiger Land will help bring in Coach Miles and his staff as they reveal the outstanding recruits who sign with the Tigers in 2012. You can purchase VIP seating for the best seat in the house by calling Ed Fister at (225) 767-7999. For more information on Bayou Bash or to request vendor information, contact Hali Burns at 225 490 8170 or at hali.burns@gbcradio.com

As you know, football recruiting is a never-ending cycle, and with that in mind today we continue to reveal our list of top junior for next year's signing class. We've added numbers 3 and 4 today. Click here to see our Top Louisiana Football Prospects for the Class of 2013 list-in-progress.

Please read this important message from Dandy Don!

1/26/12 5:55 am CST

Good morning, Tiger Fans.

With National Signing Day quickly approaching, I've been hearing from a lot of you who are very disappointed with the way this year's signing class is shaping up. As I've said many time before, I think what makes a recruiting class a success is not the number of stars beside the names of the players signed, but rather how well the class satisfies team needs. Today we'll take a look at this year's class with team needs in mind.

With the departure of Ryan Baker and Karnell Hatcher, the biggest team need at this time is at the linebacker position. LSU has addressed that need very well by picking up commitments from six very good potential linebackers in Torshiro Davis, Ronnie Feist, Trey Granier, Deion Jones, and Lorenzo Phillips. LSU is also still recruiting four-star outside linebacker Kwon Alexander from Oxford, AL. I sure hope we get Alexander, but with or without him LSU will have definitely satisfied its linebacker needs.

LSU's second greatest team need at this time is at wide receiver. With the departure of junior Rueben Randle, LSU's receiving corps will be very young. There is plenty of talent among LSU's returning receivers, but one thing I feel they lack is height. Randle was not only LSU's most experienced receiver; at 6'4" he was also the tallest. LSU has received commitments from three wide receivers for this year's class - Avery Johnson, Kavahra Holmes and Travin Dural - and they are all very good, but none have Randle's height. Of the three, the one I'm most excited about is Travin Dural from Breaux Bridge whom I've seen play several times. Folks, he is the real deal. Yes, I know, he is only a three-star prospect in some people's book, but I don't buy that. LSU is also in the running for five-star JUCO wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson, and at 6'4" he would be a great addition to this class.

Coach Miles said early on that he hoped to sign one quarterback in this year's class, and so far he's fallen short there. We all know what happened with Gunner Kiel, and then recently Jeremy Liggins withdrew LSU from the list of schools he's considering. If Coach Miles does not sign a quarterback this year, I think that will be a failure only in the sense that he wasn't able to get the players he wanted to get, but not because he was not able to meet team needs. I say this because, in my opinion, LSU does not need to sign a quarterback in this class with Zach Mettenberger, Stephen Rivers and Jerrard Randle on board, although I do think it will be critical for LSU to sign at least one top quarterback next year.

All in all, I think this class is shaping up to be one that meets team needs, but there is one thing that I find particularly disappointing. I'm referring to the fact that LSU was not able to attract the two top players in the state of Louisiana - Landon Collins and Denzell Devall. It always hurts to see the state's top prospects go out-of-state, but it hurts even more to see both of these players going to Alabama. LSU was, however, able to go out-of-state and pick up several big-time players including Vadal Alexander, Danielle Hunter, Jalen Mills, Reid Ferguson and Avery Johnson.

One correction concerning yesterday's post: I originally stated that LSU had 20 current commitments and five to go. I don't know what I was thinking - of course LSU has 21, as indicated on my list of commitments. I corrected the error around mid-day when it was brought to my attention.

Earlier I mentioned Landon Collins, and here's a good article by ESPN about his recruitment entitled "One mother of a recruiting battle."

Before leaving the topic of recruiting, today we have revealed numbers 5 and 6 on our list of top Louisiana juniors. Click here to see our Top Louisiana Football Prospects for the Class of 2013 list-in-progress.

In basketball news, LSU gave it their best shot on the road last night against a very good MSU team, but lost 76-71 in a great game. MSU took a 2-0 lead to start the game, but the lead was short-lived and LSU led most of the first half until 2:30 to play when the Bulldogs went on a 10-3 run to take a 32-31 lead into intermission. The Bulldogs continued their hot shooting to start the second half and led 47-34 with 12:30 remaining. LSU got hot and cut MSU's lead to 49-46 with 10:49 to play, but MSU would increase the lead to 63-52 with just under 4:00 to play. LSU closed out the game by making four straight three-point shots and pulled within one, 72-71, with 20.1 seconds remaining before MSU hit a key basket and made good on three free throws. The Tigers were led in scoring by Andre Stringer with 17 points off the bench. Anthony Hickey scored 16 and Justin Hamilton added 11. LSU shot 26-of-60 from the floor for 43%, 11-of-21 from three-point range for 52% and 8-of-13 from the free throw line for 61.5%. LSU only turned the ball over nine times in the game and forced 17 turnovers. LSU next game will be Saturday against Kentucky at the PMAC.

In closing, I want to let you all know that we will be updating our ticket exchange page soon. If any of you have LSU tickets for sale (any sport), please let us know.

Also, I'd like to point out that our annual fundraiser will be ending in six days. If you would like to show your support for the daily reports Scott and I provide, and have not yet done so, please take a moment to do so now. We offer two convenient ways for you to make your pledge. Thanks in advance for your support.

Reader comments: Hi, thought the readers might be interested in this article from NFP on Zach Mettenberger and how they perceive LSU will do with him. I personally can't wait to see him running the offense, which i hope will be considerably stronger next year. They should have a fantastic play action passing game with the strong running game, hopefully unstoppable. Here is the link.
 

Only one week remains in our annual fundraiser. Have you shown your support for our daily reports?

1/25/12 5:55 am CST

Good morning, Tiger Fans. With one week remaining before National Signing Day, the hot topic of discussion among Tiger Fans continues to be football recruiting.

LSU currently has 21 commitments, and will likely take 25, but at this point it's not clear who the other four will be. Monday we learned that Mario Edwards has decided to follow in his father's footsteps and attend Florida State. Then we learned that Tracy Howard, the top-ranked cornerback prospect in the nation, had scratched LSU from his list of finalists. Howard was being recruited heavily by Coach Gonzales, but after Gonzales left to take the Illinois OC job, LSU's pursuit of Howard seems to have relinquished considerably. Yesterday we also learned that quarterback Jeremy Liggins from Oxford, MS has decided against LSU and now lists Ole Miss and Mississippi State as his two finalists. Losing Liggins doesn't bother me too much as we are in good shape at quarterback with Zach Mettenberger, Stephen Rivers and Jerrard Randall, but I do think it will be important for LSU to sign a top quarterback in next year's class.

LSU appears to still be in the running for five-star JUCO wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson, and I really hope Miles is able to land him. To fill LSU's need for another defensive lineman, I expect Coach Miles to make a strong push for Louisiana's own Jacoby Brisco from Carencro, and to fill the need for another defensive back, I look for Miles to heavily pursue Trae Elston from Oxford, AL who will be visiting LSU this weekend. (Elston's teammate, four-star OLB Kwon Alexander, is still high on LSU's list as well and that might have something to do with LSU's pursuit of Elston.) Personally, I wish LSU would have pursued Alonzo Moore from Winnfield who is an amazing athlete that could play as a wide receiver or defensive back, but according to Winnfield's Coach Andy Pyles, whom I spoke to yesterday, LSU has not made contact with Moore. Moore is currently entertaining offers from Mississippi State and Nebraska, among others. The next seven days will be very interesting, and I hope that Miles has a surprise or two up his sleeve.

Before leaving the topic of recruiting, today we have continued unveiling our list of top Louisiana juniors by posting numbers 7 and 8 on our list of Top Louisiana Football Prospects for the Class of 2013. Click here to see the list in progress. Numbers 1-6 will be revealed between now and February 1. We've enjoyed the positive feedback we've received from many of you concerning our list-in-progress.

In baseball news, we are down to only 23 days before the start of the 2012 LSU baseball season. The Tigers are preseason ranked No. 8 by Baseball America which is generally regarded as the number one baseball source. Three other SEC teams – Florida, South Carolina and Arkansas – are ranked numbers one, three and four respectively. LSU being ranked No. 8 is pretty good, but not good enough for fans who think LSU should be a perennial power and national contender, and that includes me. LSU last won the title in 2009 and South Carolina won the title in 2010 and 2011. I like this year's team, and I think the only thing it may be lacking is a couple of power hitters. Pitching will be the strong suit of this year's team.

In basketball news, LSU's Lady Tigers overcame a nine-point half time deflect to defeat Middle Tennessee 71-68 in overtime. The Lady Tigers took a 1-0 lead to start the game but that was their only lead in the first half. LSU committed 14 first-half turnovers that Middle Tennessee converted into 16 points, and at the break Middle Tennessee led 33-24. In the second half, LSU came out very hot and took a 37-35 lead. LSU extended the lead to 46-41, but Middle Tennessee stormed back on a 9-0 run to regain the lead, 50-41. After three more lead changes, the game ended 63-63 in regulation and went into overtime. Middle Tennessee led 68-67 with 1:12 to play in overtime before Bianca Lutley hit a long three-point shot that gave LSU a one-point lead, and LaSondra Barrett made six free throws down the stretch to win the game. LSU made 27-of-74 shots from the floor for 37%, made 3-of-11 three-point shots for 27% and made 14-of-16 free throws for 88%. LSU had 17 turnovers in the game, but out rebounded Middle Tennessee 51-35. The Lady Tigers were led in scoring by Barrett with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Lutley scored 16 points, pulled down five rebounds and hit on two big three-point shots. Adrienne Webb and Courtney Jones each scored nine points. Swayze Black and Taylor Turnbow each scored six points.

In men's basketball, Coach Trent Johnson's Tigers (12-7, 2-3) will be playing Mississippi State (16-4, 3-2) tonight at MSU. Mississippi State's 16 wins have come over Eastern Kentucky 78-66, South Alabama 80-65, Texas A&M 69-50, Arizona 67-57, ULM 78-63, Tennessee Martin 76-50, North Texas 82-59, West Virginia 75-62, Troy 106-60, Florida Atlantic 75-68, Detroit Mercy 80-75, Northwestern State 82-67, Utah State 66-64, Tennessee 62-58, Alabama 56-52, and Vanderbilt 78-77 in overtime. The four games that MSU lost came against Akron 58-68, Baylor 52-54, Arkansas 88-98 and Ole Miss 68-75. Tonight's game tips off at 7 p.m. on the SEC Network (WBXH, Cable 16 in Baton Rouge, WKCE in Alexandria, KLAF in Lafayette, WUPL in New Orleans, KSHV in Shreveport).

In closing, I'd like to express my condolences for Skip Bertman and his family. Skip's daughter, Dr. Lisa Jo Pate (44), passed away yesterday morning after a long battle with cancer. Please keep the Bertman family in your prayers.