Can LSU land all of Louisiana's Top 10 recruits?

The LSU football staff has landed commitments from eight of the Top 10 Louisiana recruits on the On3 Industry Rankings.

What are the chances the Tigers lock down the Bayou State and reel in all 10 prospects on the list?

Over the weekend, Louisiana four-star linebacker Tylen Singleton announced his commitment to LSU.

Now, only two prospects in the Top 10 remain uncommitted: and they’re the two highest-ranked recruits of the bunch.

Here’s where things stand in Louisiana with Acadiana defensive lineman Dominick McKinley and John Ehret defensive back Wardell Mack both uncommitted.

LSU drops another key Louisiana domino in Singleton

Singleton’s commitment to LSU came on Saturday evening, giving the Tigers a verbal pledge from Louisiana’s No. 1 ranked linebacker prospect in the 2024 class.

LSU is up to 19 total commitments, and 14 are rising high school seniors in the state of Louisiana. That’s 74% of the current class coming from the Bayou State.

Toss in another Louisiana native in linebacker Xavier Atkins, who moved to Texas for his senior year, and the number rises to 79% of the class being Louisiana natives.

LSU has the second-highest percentage of in-state commitments of any program in the Top 25 of the On3 Industry Ranking Football Team Recruiting Rankings. The lone school with more in-state additions is Texas Tech, with the Red Raiders sitting at 19 commitments who are all from the Lone Star State. When broadening the scope to the Top 50, only two teams have added a higher percentage of in-state commitments in Texas Tech and TCU. The Horned Frogs have 11 commitments, and all of them are from Texas.

When it comes to recruiting in Louisiana, LSU has added nine players on defense, four on offense and one on special teams.

Linebacker Tylen Singleton is the second highest-ranked defensive prospect of the nine-man haul, checking in as a Top 150 overall prospect. Denham Springs safety Dashawn McBryde is the lone commitment on defense ranked higher than Singleton, with McBryde entering his senior season as a Top 100 prospect nationally. Destrehan linebacker/EDGE rusher Kolaj Cobbins, Lafayette Christian Academy cornerback Ju’Juan Johnson, West Feliciana safety Joel Rogers, Westgate defensive lineman De’Myrion Johnson, Ruston defensive lineman Ahmad Breaux and Warren Easton defensive back Wallace Foster are the other Louisiana commitments in on defense.

On offense, the highest-ranked commitment from the Bayou State is four-star Trey’Dez Green, who is ranked as the No. 72 overall prospect in the class. Terrebonne wide receiver Kylan Billiot, John Curtis wide receiver Michael Turner and John Ehret offensive lineman Khayree Lee are the other commitments on offense.

There’s also a special teams pledge on board – and it’s from the nation’s No. 1 kicker prospect in Parkway’s Aeron Burrell.

McKinley, Mack still on the board

And then there were two.

Acadiana defensive lineman Dominick McKinley and John Ehret defensive back Wardell Mack remain the lone Top 10 prospects in Louisiana who are still uncommitted.

McKinley, a five-star prospect and the No. 5 defensive lineman in the country, is ranked as Louisiana’s No. 1 overall prospect. He’s yet to set a decision date, but the rising senior made official visits to Ohio State, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Texas in June.

LSU holds the lead on the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine, but there’s still work to be done. McKinley is slated to be in Baton Rouge on Friday for the program’s Bayou Splash recruiting event, and the Tigers still have an official visit in their back pocket.

With Mack, the state’s No. 2 overall prospect, a decision is expected ahead of his senior season.

Mack is slated to visit LSU on Friday for the Bayou Splash, and gearing up for a potential Florida visit on Saturday. The NCAA’s dead period ends on Tuesday, but begins again next week. That’s a seven-day window for prospects to visit college campuses, and plenty of schools are fighting to get Mack in for a visit.

LSU hosting the New Orleans four-star this week is key given a decision is expected in August, and like with McKinley, the Tigers still have an official visit weekend to come.

Entering the final week of July, LSU holds the On3 RPM lead, meaning the Tigers are still circled as the team to beat for both prospects.

Has LSU ever landed everyone in Louisiana’s Top 10?

While the rankings are far from finalized, commitments from Mack and McKinley would give LSU all 10 of Louisiana’s Top 10 recruits on the On3 Industry Rankings.

Has it ever been done before?

In the modern recruiting era, which dates back to 2000, the answer is no. Still, the Tigers have come close.

In 2019, LSU signed 8 of the Top 10 prospects in Louisiana, but both Ishmael Sopsher and Christian Harris left the Bayou State and signed with Alabama.

In 2016, the Tigers signed all but two of Louisiana’s Top 13 prospects. That cycle, Shyheim Carter signed with Alabama, while Klyde Chriss signed with Texas A&M.

The closest LSU came to signing every recruit in Louisiana’s Top 10 came in 2006. That cycle, the lone recruit who left the state was Destrehan’s Chaz Washington. Washington, the No. 10 prospect in Louisiana that cycle, wasn’t offered by the Tigers.

There’s been a number of years when LSU didn’t offer every prospect who finished in Louisiana’s Top 10, but that won’t be the case during the current 2024 cycle.

And after six of Louisiana’s Top 10 recruits signed with out-of-state programs a year ago, it’s clear the Tigers are making a very concerted effort to put the fence back up around the state.

Now, that push could bring with it the first time LSU has swept Louisiana’s Top 10 in the modern recruiting era.