BATON ROUGE — Behind the strength of four Parade All-Americans, LSU put together one of the nation’s top football signing classes as the Tigers inked a total of 26 prospects for the 2007 season here Wednesday.
Click here to view video highlights, coach Miles’ comments on each recruit and more information about each of these new Tigers.
LSU 2007 signing class has been rated as high as No. 2 in the nation by Scout.com. LSU was also ranked No. 4 by Rivals.com and No. 7 by ESPN.com.
“It’s a great day for LSU football,” LSU coach Les Miles said. “We were able to add to our team 26 quality men with character and guys that have athletic ability. And those people, in my opinion, are looking forward to a lifetime of opportunities that LSU can afford.
“Any time that you have a recruiting effort like this you represent a lot of people when you’re the head coach. First of all, I represent a great school, and it’s easy to show the opportunities a school like LSU affords academically and athletically.
“I’m awfully fortunate to have people who give up their days to help us. From the University administration, to the staff at the Cox Communications Academic Center for Student-Athletes, and professors in virtually every department that come down and represent their school. Our coaching staff did a great job. They recruited long and hard. They competed. A recruiting calendar is very much a competitive run, and when the pace gets faster there’s so much to do and our coaching staff did that.”
The signing class comes on the heels of an 11-2 mark and No. 3 final national ranking for the Tigers in 2006. LSU closed the 2006 season with a 41-14 win over Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl capping one of the best two years periods of football in LSU history.
Heading the list of signees for the Tigers are four Parade All-Americas in wide receiver Terrance Tolliver, defensive tackle Joseph Barksdale, wide receiver DeAngelo Benton, and safety Chad Jones.
In all, the Tigers signed 11 players from the state of Louisiana, five from Texas, four from Florida, two from Alabama and one each from the states of Mississippi, North Carolina, Michigan and Tennessee.
The class included one junior college product in wide receiver Demetrius Byrd as well as one signee who has already graduated from high school and is currently enrolled at LSU in defensive tackle Joseph Barksdale.
The class included a nation’s best 18 4-star recruits, as graded by Rivals.com as well as a pair of 5-star signees in Tolliver and Chad Jones. In addition, the Tigers added 10 members of the ESPN Top 150 as well as seven members of the Baton Rouge Advocate Super Dozen and nine of the New Orleans Times-Picayune’s Top 16 Blue Chip list.
“It’s nice to have four Parade All-Americans in this class, which is ties for the most in a single signing class in school history,” Miles said. “With a couple 5-star athletes and 18-4-star signees, it tells you that we’ve really compiled a great class. This class has size, speed, athletic ability, strength and great balance.”
2007 LSU Football Official Signing Class
#
Time
Name
Cl.
Hometown (High School/JC)
1.
Enrolled
Joseph Barksdale
DL
Fr.
6-6
315
Detroit, Mich. (Cass Tech HS)
2.
8:28 a.m.
Andrew Crutchfield
K/P
Fr.
6-1
190
Concord, N.C. (NW Cabarrus HS)
3.
8:47 a.m.
Sidell Corley
DE
Fr.
6-4
270
Mobile, Ala. (McGill-Toolen HS)
4.
8.57 a.m.
Phelon Jones
DB
Fr.
5-11
195
Mobile, Ala. (McGill-Toolen HS)
5.
9:09 a.m.
T-Bob Hebert
C/OL
Fr.
6-3
260
Alpharetta, Ga. (Greater Atlanta Christian HS)
6.
9:17 a.m.
Ron Brooks
ATH
Fr.
5-11
180
Irving, Texas (MacArthur HS)
7.
9:28 a.m.
Stevan Ridley
LB
Fr.
5-11
209
Natchez, Miss. (Trinity Episcopal HS)
8.
9:40 a.m.
Stefoin Francois
DB
Fr.
6-1
200
Reserve, La. (East St. John HS)
9.
9:49 a.m.
Drake Nevis
DL
Fr.
6-1
285
Marrero, La. (John Ehret HS)
10.
9:59 a.m.
John Williams
CB
Fr.
5-11
175
Breaux Bridge, La. (Breaux Bridge HS)
11.
10:07 a.m.
Ernest McCoy
OL
Fr.
6-5
333
Belle Glade, Fla. (Glades Central HS)
12.
10:17 a.m.
Shomari Clemons
LB/DB
Fr.
6-2
220
West Monroe, La. (West Monroe HS)
13.
10:24 a.m.
Will Blackwell
DE
Fr.
6-4
293
West Monroe, La. (West Monroe HS)
14.
10:50 a.m.
Alex Russian
TE
Fr.
6-4
230
Round Rock, Texas (Round Rock HS)
15.
10:58 a.m.
Jarvis Jones
OL
Fr.
6-6
265
Needville, Texas (Lamar Consolidated HS)
16.
11:18 a.m.
Kentravis Aubrey
DL
Fr.
6-3
285
Bastrop, La. (Bastrop HS)
17.
11:24 a.m.
Jarrett Lee
QB
Fr.
6-2
190
Brenham, Texas (Brenham HS)
18.
11:31 a.m.
DeAngelo Benton
WR
Fr.
6-3
190
Bastrop, La. (Bastrop HS)
19.
11:41 a.m.
Jordon Corbin
TE
Fr.
6-4
240
Lakeland, Fla. (Lakeland HS)
20.
11:49 a.m.
Delvin Breaux
CB
Fr.
6-1
175
New Orleans, La. (McDonogh 35 HS)
21.
11:59 a.m.
Josh Dworaczyk
OL
Fr.
6-6
275
New Iberia, La. (Catholic-New Iberia HS)
22.
12:05 p.m.
Mitch Joseph
TE
Fr.
6-5
243
New Iberia, La. (Catholic-New Iberia HS)
23.
12:23 p.m.
Terrance Toliver
WR
Fr.
6-5
180
Hempstead, Texas (Hempstead HS)
24.
12:32 p.m.
Josh Jasper
K/P
Fr.
6-0
165
Memphis, Tenn. (Ridgeway HS)
25.
12:38 p.m.
Demetrius Byrd
WR
Jr.
6-2
195
Miami, Fla. (Miami Central HS/Pearl River CC)
26.
2:45 p.m.
Chad Jones
S
Fr.
6-3
222
New Orleans, La. (Southern Lab HS)