Five-star WR Shelton Sampson Jr. to LSU: 'The Louisiana culture there is real'

One of the nation’s game-changing receivers in the 2023 cycle is off the board.

Five-star Baton Rouge (La.) Catholic wide receiver Shelton Sampson Jr. has elected to play his college football in-state at LSU. The nation’s No. 4-rated player at his position nationally, Sampson committed to the Tigers over Florida State, Texas A&M and Alabama Saturday in front of a crowd in his high school gym.

Sampson, the No. 3-rated player from The Boot in this class, gives LSU three verbal pledges from the state’s top seven players within the past month. Brian Kelly’s staff has found a rhythm with several of Louisiana’s best, which ultimately made the difference as the five-star pass-catcher navigated his options in recent weeks, which included multiple unofficial visits back and forth to LSU.

“I like how genuine they all are,” Sampson told On3 of the LSU coaches. “The Louisiana culture there is real. From the old coaching staff to the new coaching staff, the energy is different. When Coach Kelly came in he got the academics right. It’s all going in the right direction and that caught my mom’s attention — even more than mine — but she’s a part of the decision, too.”

The turning point for Sampson

The new LSU staff pressed the right buttons when “Shelton Stays” was trending on social media earlier in the summer. Ultimately, that wound up being a turning point for the five-star wide receiver who isn’t as big on the glam of the recruiting process and instead emphasized relationships and trust.

The new LSU staff finally broke through with the hometown blue-chipper thanks in part to efforts from wide receivers coach Cortez Hankton, who previously recruited Sampson as Georgia’s receivers coach; quarterbacks coach Joe Sloan, who has been instrumental in the capital since his arrival to Baton Rouge from Ruston; as well as Jordan Arcement, who dished out Sampson’s first Power 5 scholarship offer at his first stop at Virginia.

“That was crazy,” Sampson laughed. “Someone told me to type ‘Shelton stays’ in on Twitter and I got to scrolling and there was no way …”

“It meant a lot,” he continued, “and definitely showed me how they want me, and that played a big part.”

Sampson is the nation’s No. 3-rated overall player regardless of position from The Boot, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.