BATON ROUGE — The LSU soccer team will welcome its first ever top 10 recruiting class to campus in August as this year’s group of signees has been ranked No. 7 in the country and No. 1 in the Central Region in the final recruiting rankings released by Soccer Buzz Magazine.
Head coach Brian Lee and his staff have signed a class that ranks ahead of six programs that finished the 2005 season among the top 10 teams in the nation, including national champion Portland, No. 5 Florida State, No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 8 Virginia, No. 9 California and No. 10 Texas A&M.
Perennial power North Carolina has inked the top recruiting class in the nation for 2006 with traditional powers UCLA, Duke, Santa Clara and Penn State rounding out the top five.
“It’s an honor to see LSU soccer aligned with traditional soccer powers like North Carolina, Duke, Penn State and Santa Clara,” Lee said. “We have aspirations to compete on a national level year in and year out, and attracting student-athletes with that kind of ability is a major step in that direction.”
The Tigers are joined in the top 10 by Georgia, which signed the nation’s eighth-ranked class for its first top 10 class in program history. Auburn signed the 17th-ranked class in the nation, while Florida comes in at No. 23.
This marks the first time that four Southeastern Conference teams have had recruiting classes ranked in the top 25 and the second time that two SEC teams have had classes ranked in the top 10 of the final Soccer Buzz poll. In 2005, Tennessee and Florida finished with classes ranked fifth and seventh, respectively.
“It’s great to see Georgia join us in the top 10 and Auburn and Florida in the top 25,” Lee said. “Over the next several years, I am confident that the SEC will become one of the top soccer conferences in Division I and annually send five or more team to the NCAA Tournament, which is something that hasn’t happened to this point.”
Lee was able to sign seven of the top 100 high school recruits in the country during the February signing period ? a feat matched only by head coach Anson Dorrance at North Carolina. Among those who will continue their careers at LSU is Soccer Buzz Top 75 recruit Katherine Lagow of Plano, Texas.
“We’ve got an amazing group of girls coming in this year ? girls that I’m more than excited to have the opportunity to play with in my career,” Lagow said. “They are coming here with the same goals that I have for our team, and it’s a great feeling to know that everyone around you is willing to do whatever it takes to reach those goals.”
Michelle Makasini, a Soccer Buzz Top 75 recruit from Euless, Texas, said that having the opportunity to compete with other elite recruits was not the only thing that drew her to LSU. She believes that LSU has everything she needs to succeed not just on the field, but off the field as well.
“When I stepped foot on the LSU campus, I knew this would be my home for the next four years,” Makasini said. “The campus itself is beautiful, and the academic center is amazing. The athletic facilities are also the best that I have ever seen. LSU is the perfect school for sports fanatics like myself.”
A total of 32 programs have had at least one recruiting class ranked in the top 10 since Soccer Buzz began releasing its rankings in 1998, and all 32 teams have made the NCAA Tournament at least once in the four years after receiving such a ranking.
Similarly, there have been 23 programs with recruiting classes ranked in the top seven of the final poll with each one advancing to at least the second round of the NCAA Tournament. A total of 20 of 23 teams have reached the Sweet 16, while 12 have advanced to the Elite Eight.
“Recruiting is a big part of what our coaching staff does each day, and it’s fulfilling to see an outside source feel as good about our recruits as we do,” Lee said. “Soccer Buzz does a great job of researching the recruits and history says they are a tremendous indicator of future success on the field.
“This is a talented group of players physically, but more importantly, they are quality people that will be a great addition to the LSU community. They come from great families, and I know that they will represent this University in a way that reflects well on all of them.”
Top 10 Recruiting Classes in the SEC (since 1998)
2006 ? LSU (7)
2006 ? Georgia (8)
2005 ? Tennessee (5)
2005 ? Florida (7)
2001 ? Tennessee (5)
1999 ? Florida (3)
1998 ? Florida (4)