BATON ROUGE — Headlined by the nation’s top rated cornerback prospect in Patrick Johnson, LSU hauled in one of the college football’s top signing classes on Wednesday as the Tigers added 26 players to their roster for the 2008 season.
LSU’s signing class was ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation by Scout.com. LSU’s class was rated No. 11 nationally by both ESPN.com and Rivals.com.
Members of the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net have access to the on-demand video highlights, comments from the LSU coaching staff, and coach Les Miles‘ press conference.
To see what’s available, visit the Geaux Zone homepage. To join the Geaux Zone now, click here.
In all, LSU landed five members of ESPN’s Top 150 and four players on Rivals’ list of top 100 prospects. In addition, the Tigers inked a pair of Parade All-Americans in Johnson, along with wide receiver DeAngelo Benton, who made the Parade list a year ago.
“It is always fun to get a new class and look at the young men you had a chance to meet, recruit and invite to the campus,” LSU coach Les Miles said. “I am really proud of this class. I think our coaching staff did a great job of getting the commitments. When you look at what we have coming back and look at the needs that this team has in an order, you would have to say the loss of cornerbacks Chevis Jackson and Jonathan Zenon would be the most acute issue.”
As a result, Miles and his staff went out and signed perhaps the best group of cornerback prospects in the nation, led by Pompano Beach, Fla., native Johnson. Other top cornerbacks on the list of signees include Brandon Taylor of Franklinton, La., Ryan St. Julien of Catholic-New Iberia, and Derrick Bryant of Peachtree Ridge in Georgia.
“We set out to get a talented cornerback class and that’s just what we did,” Miles said. “Patrick Johnson is the No. 1 rated cornerback in the country. He is big, physical and athletic. Patrick, along with the other three cornerbacks gives us the style for that position that we really need.”
Other highlights in the class include the re-signing of wide receiver DeAngelo Benton along with wide out Chris Tolliver of Rayville, La. Benton, who signed with the Tigers a year ago, spent the 2007 season at Hargrave (Va.) Military Prep School. As a senior at Bastrop High School in 2006, Benton earned Parade All-America honors after catching 40 passes for 947 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Tolliver, considered the top wide receiver prospect in Louisiana in 2007, caught 54 passes for 697 yards and seven touchdowns for Rayville. Tolliver was considered the nation’s 11th-best wide receiver by ESPN.com and as the best deep threat prospect in high school football by Rivals.com.
Another offensive standout in this year’s class included quarterback Jordan Jefferson, who threw for 2,800 yards, 24 touchdowns and just three interceptions in leading Destrehan to the 5A state title this year. Jefferson was the Louisiana 5A most outstanding offensive player and he finished his prep career with a 21-0 mark as a starting quarterback.
Other defensive standouts in the class include defensive Chancey Aghayere of Garland High School in Garland, Texas; linebackers Ryan Baker from Blountstown High School in Florida and defensive end Chase Clement from E.D. White in Thibodaux.
The 2008 LSU class included 15 players from Louisiana, four from both Texas and Florida, two from Georgia and one from Tennessee.
“We really look at recruiting through the I-10 corridor,” Miles said. “We feel like we are making some connections in the Miami area. It is important we take the in-state guys that give us the opportunity to win a championship. We will always look to the in-state players first for an opportunity to get a great education and help with future employment. They get the idea of playing in their home state and enjoying the community of Baton Rouge.”
Miles also added that this class is made up of quality men with good character.
“We recruit quality people and quality students who are extremely good players,” Miles said. “There are quality men in this class. There are guys in this class who are like (Jacob) Hester and (Craig) Steltz ? players that you will look at four years from now and say ?those guys made a difference.’
“It was important to me when we set up the parameters for this class that it gave us an opportunity to win championships.”
LSU COACH LES MILES COMMENTS FROM SIGNING DAY
Opening statement…
“It is always fun to get a new class and look at the young men you had a chance to meet, recruit and invite to the campus. I am really proud of this class. I think our coaching staff did a great job of getting the commitments. When you look at what we have coming back and look at the needs that this team has in an order, you would have to say the loss of cornerbacks Chevis Jackson and Jonathan Zenon would be the most acute issue.”
On the cornerbacks in this year’s class…
“We set out to get a talented cornerback class. Patrick Johnson is the No. 1 rated cornerback in the country. He is big, physical and athletic. We also recruited Brandon Taylor, who is the No. 9 ranked corner in the country right here in Louisiana. He is the brother of Curtis Taylor. Ryan St. Julien is the 30th-ranked corner and is also from Louisiana. Derrick Bryant is the No. 25-ranked corner. We think those guys give us the style of incoming addition for that position that we really need.”
On QB Jordan Jefferson…
“We graduated Matt Flynn and recruited Jordan Jefferson who is a bright young quarterback that can come here and compete to play. We were fortunate to have several of these guys in our camp. Jordan Jefferson was one of them and he has the style of run and throw that makes him a real competitor. He threw for more than 2,800 yards, 24 touchdowns and only three interceptions. He comes with a winning background. He understands the commitment that is expected. We look forward to his addition.”
On the defensive linemen in this year’s class…
“You always rank the defensive line high and want to have very talented guys there. Our defensive line is mature. Next year we will probably lose five guys on the defensive line. The loss of Glenn Dorsey was significant. We set out to get some athletic defensive ends.”
“Chancey Aghayere out of Dallas is the third-ranked defense end in the country. He is a guy with tremendous size and speed. He will look forward to stepping on the field and competing.”
“Chase Clement is a top-ranked Louisiana prospect. We think he is a guy that has his best football in front of him. He was used in a number of ways in high school. They used him at tight end, defensive end and nose tackle. He has tremendous natural ability and up side.”
“Another guy in this state, who we think is one of our best prospects even though he wasn’t ranked that highly on a national scale was Lavar Edwards. A guy from Desire Street right here in Baton Rouge. He played fullback and tight end in high school. He ran for 400 to 500 yards. He is a tremendous athlete who also played basketball. He is a great addition to our defensive line.”
“Cordian Hagans has really only played two years of football but has a great motor. He has great size and strength. He runs extremely well. We feel this defensive line class is a good backdrop for us.”
On the offensive linemen in this year’s class…
“We lost Carnell Stewart this year but next year’s loss will be much more significant with the loss of our center (Brett Helms) and left guard (Herman Johnson). We put together a great class this year.” We got Greg Shaw out of Florida. He is ranked as the 16th best tackle in the country. He is a very quality left tackle prospect. Clay Spencer is a nationally-ranked guy. P.J. Lonergan is another in-state guy. Alex Hurst out of Tennessee is 6-5 around 300 pounds. He runs a 4.9 40-yard dash. He has the potential to be a great offensive line prospect for us.”
On the wide receivers in this year’s class…
“DeAngelo Benton was a Parade All-American out of the 06′ class. Chris Tolliver is one of the fastest recruits in the country and is a real deep threat. Tim Molton from Destrehan, Deangelo Peterson and Jhyrn Taylor put together a class that gives us height, speed and physical presence. They can go up and get it and really fit just what we need.”
On the tight ends in this year’s class…
“We lost a couple of tight ends, not that this was a tremendous need for us. We picked up Matt Branch and Tyler Edwards from Louisiana. Both guys were ranked in the top six of the position. They are guys that we feel will develop into really strong college players.”
On the linebackers in this year’s class…
“We felt like with the loss of Ali Highsmith that we needed to get another athlete and Ryan Baker was that guy. He is the No. 6-ranked outside linebacker. He is just under 6-1. He runs close to a 4.5 in the 40-yard dash. We have Kellen Theriot who is a mid-year guy and already on our campus. He is learning the linebacker trade. Kyle Prater from Texas will round out the three linebackers we sign for this year’s class.”
On the safeties in this year’s class…
“We picked up a couple of safeties. Karnell Hatcher out of Miami is a guy we had at our camp. Rockey Duplessis from Belle Chasse is a real hard-nose player. We feel those guys will help us tremendously with their abilities.”
“There were 11 All-Americans in this class, not that that matters because we felt we had several guys from Louisiana that did not get national recognition but were some of our best prospects. Geographically, we took 15 guys from Louisiana, four from Texas, four from Florida, two from Georgia and one from Tennessee. We really look at recruiting through the I-10 corridor. We feel like we are making some connections in the Miami area. It is important we take the in-state guys that give us the opportunity to win a championship. We will always look to the in-state players first for an opportunity to get a great education and help with future employment. They get the idea of playing in their home state and enjoying the community of Baton Rouge.”
On the rankings his class has received from national recruiting sites…
“I am really not worried about the class rankings. Scout.com had us at fifth, ESPN and Rivals.com had us at 11th but we filled our needs and it is what we needed to get accomplished. We certainly would have liked to have added several players to the class towards the back end but we got what we needed. We recruit quality people and quality students who are extremely good players. There are quality men in this class. Guys like (Jacob) Hester and (Craig) Steltz that you will look at four years from now and say ?those guys made a difference.’ It was important to me when we set up the parameters for this class that it gave us an opportunity to win championships.”
On how winning the national championship helped in recruiting…
“You could always tell with the guys that you were recruiting who you were going to get because as they started watching the national championship they said ?Listen, they are only down ten. They will come back.’ The recruits you weren’t as strong with would say ?when you were down ten we really didn’t know how it was going to go.’ That right there told you something. The opportunity to be the national championship gives you a lot and helps those guys coming in to be a part of that winning atmosphere. I don’t know if it helped with anybody specifically.”
NOTE: Prospective student-athletes are listed above only when the LSU Football Office has received an official NCAA National Letter of Intent that has been verified by the LSU Athletics Compliance Office.
The Official List of 2008 LSU Football Signees
TIME
SIGNEE
HOMETOWN
HIGH SCHOOL/JUNIOR COLLEGE
Enrolled
Kellen Theriot
Houston, Texas
Episcopal HS
1.
8:23 a.m.
Derrick Bryant
Lawrenceville, Ga.
Peachtree Ridge HS
2.
8:43 a.m.
Cordian Hagans
Snellville, Ga.
Northview HS
3.
8:54 a.m.
Alex Hurst
Bartlett, Tenn.
Arlington HS
4.
9:02 a.m.
P.J. Lonergan
New Orleans, La.
Rummel HS
5.
9:12 a.m.
Greg Shaw
Hialeah, Fla.
Edward Pace HS
6.
9:16 a.m.
Ryan Baker
Grand Ridge, Fla.
Bountstown HS
7.
9:23 a.m.
DeAngelo Benton
Bastrop, La.
Hargrave Military/Bastrop HS
8.
9:31 a.m.
Matt Branch
Monroe, La.
Sterlington HS
9.
9:39 a.m.
Thomas Parsons
Canyon Lake, Texas
Smithson Valley HS
10.
9:47 a.m.
Chancey Aghayere
Garland, Texas
Garland HS
11.
9:58 a.m.
Rockey Duplessis
Belle Chasse, La.
Belle Chasse HS
12.
10:15 a.m.
Brandon Taylor
Franklinton, La.
Franklinton HS
13.
10:19 a.m.
Jhyryn Taylor
Franklinton, La.
Franklinton HS
14.
10:27 a.m.
Tyler Edwards
Monroe, La.
Ouachita Parish HS
15.
10:34 a.m.
Clay Spencer
Baton Rouge, La.
Parkview Baptist
16.
10:41 a.m.
Jordan Jefferson
St. Rose, La.
Destrehan HS
17.
10:48 a.m.
Tim Molton
Montz, La.
Destrehan HS
18.
10:55 a.m.
Kyle Prater
Kerrville, Texas
Tivy HS
19.
11:05 a.m.
Ryan St. Julien
St. Martinville, La.
Catholic-New Iberia HS
20.
11:25 a.m.
Patrick Johnson
Pompano Beach, Fla.
Ely HS
21.
11:33 a.m.
Lavar Edwards
Gretna, La.
Desire Street Academy
22.
11:41 a.m.
Karnell Hatcher
Delray Beach, Fla.
Atlantic Community HS
23.
11:59 a.m.
Deangelo Peterson
New Orleans, La.
Desire Street Academy
24.
12:06 p.m.
Chris Tolliver
Rayville, La.
Rayville HS
25.
12:14 p.m.
Chase Clement
Thibodaux, La.
E.D. White HS