LSU pushing to flip 5-star athlete Terry Bussey from Texas A&M

LSU is one of, if not the hottest team on the recruiting trail right now. The Tigers have had plenty of momentum over the past couple of months — and much of that momentum has come at the expense of Texas A&M.

The Aggies have lost three major commits to LSU this cycle: Beaumont (Texas) On300 five-star offensive tackle Weston Davis, Shreveport (La.) Evangel Christian four-star defensive lineman Gabriel Reliford and Lafayette (La.) Acadiana five-star DL Dominick McKinley.

That elite trio has vaulted the Tigers’ 2024 class up to No. 7 in the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings. LSU is still after one more prized Aggie commit ahead of the February signing period, however.

Timpson (Texas) five-star athlete Terry Bussey announced his commitment to Texas A&M on Sept. 28. The 5-foot-10.5, 180-pounder was a long-time lean to the Aggies, but LSU was also a consistent player in his recruitment.

He’s taken three documented visits to Baton Rouge — including an official visit in September and a game visit in October. Like McKinley, Bussey also didn’t sign during the Early Signing Period in December, pushing things back until February. With A&M’s class on the rails, LSU is hopeful to pull off one more flip from College Station.

“LSU flipped four A&M commits this cycle, but they still are chasing one more. (Bussey) has been a standout at Timpson, he’s listed as an athlete, one of the best players in the country and he’s still available,” LSU insider Shea Dixon said on The Inside Scoop.

“Committed to A&M…he and Dominick McKinley were two A&M commitments who said ‘i’m not signing early, I want to wait until February to see how things look.’ Well, McKinley’s already flipped to LSU, a five-star defensive tackle. That’s four players that LSU’s flipped out of A&M’s class — and all being pretty big ones.”

LSU looking to ‘shake things up’ one more time this cycle

Last week, Bussey told On3 that Georgia and USC are newcomers in his recruitment and are looking to make a late splash to sway him away from his pledge to Mike Elko and the new A&M staff. A January visit to Athens is in the works.

Alabama and LSU have also continued to hang around — with the Tigers being a clear option due to the amount of A&M commits that have already flipped and signed to play for Brian Kelly and Co. LSU’s 2024 class already features six defensive back signees, but a player of Bussey’s caliber would vault the Bayou Bengals up yet another level.

Pulling off the flip won’t be easy, but the pieces are in place for LSU to take at least one more big swing at the No. 20 overall prospect and top-ranked athlete in the On3 Industry Ranking.

“You look ahead to February signing day, certainly Terry Bussey jumps out as an athlete. They could really use him in the defensive secondary — safety, maybe nickel, one of those positions. He’s a dynamic player. I will say, out of all the A&M guys that have committed to the Aggies, he’s one we always thought would end up there, so it’s no surprise he’s still committed, but he’s giving other teams a look — a number of SEC teams,” Dixon said.

“LSU’s in that mix, they’ll try to get him back on campus in January, they’ve already had the official visit, but are they able to shake things up one more time, because four flips from one school is a big, big deal in one cycle. Can they get to five…we’ll see. I still think Bussey’s a guy who wants to be at A&M, but doesn’t see it as a fit there.”