BATON ROUGE — After signing three prep standouts to National Letters of Intent on National Signing Day, LSU head soccer coach Brian Lee announced Friday the addition of Louisiana high school star Kellie Murphy to the Class of 2008.
Murphy will join the Tigers in the fall following an outstanding career at St. Thomas More High School in Lafayette in which she established herself as one of the state’s top seniors while leading the Cougars to the Class 5A state title and an undefeated 27-0-2 record in 2008.
Murphy is arguably the most decorated recruit in the state of Louisiana for the 2008 signing class as she has earned three first-team all-state, all-district and all-Acadiana in her illustrious career.
She is a two-time District 3-5A Offensive MVP and was named the Class 5A MVP as a senior following St. Thomas More’s state championship run in 2008. In addition, Murphy set the school’s single season scoring record with 43 goals as a sophomore as she also led the Cougars to the Class 5A state championship during the 2006 season.
“We’re very happy that Kellie has decided to continue her academic and athletic pursuits here at LSU,” Lee said. “She is one of the top attacking players to come out of Louisiana this season, and we believe she will fit in nicely in our system as either a forward or midfielder.
“We feel a great sense of pride whenever a Louisiana kid chooses to wear the purple and gold and represent this great university both on and off the field. Kellie has the opportunity to flourish both as a student and as an athlete in our environment.”
In addition to her success at St. Thomas More, Murphy has enjoyed great success at the club level as she has led Cajun Soccer Club Rage to four state titles in the past seven seasons. She has also been a member of the Louisiana Olympic Development Program Team the last four years.
Murphy joins a small, but talented class of newcomers as goalkeeper Mo Isom (Marietta, Ga.), defender Brittany Potts (Aurora, Ill.) and forward Hannah Jobe (Baton Rouge) signed on Feb. 6.
The Tigers are in the midst of one of the more difficult spring schedules in the country as they have already battled such national powers as North Carolina, Duke and Texas A&M, while they also have a match against nationally-ranked Texas scheduled for April 12. They are scheduled to kick off the 2008 season at home against South Alabama on Aug. 22.