Oxford QB Liggins commits to play for LSU
“We’re used to winning, and that’s what we’re trying to do, go for that national championship.” Jeremy Liggins, quarterback who led Oxford (Miss.) Lafayette to back-to-back state titles.
Quarterback Jeremy Liggins of Oxford (Miss.) Lafayette said Monday night that he will sign with LSU as recruiting news came fast and furious with the start of the national signing period looming on Wednesday.
Liggins (6-foot-3, 270 pounds) made his announcement shortly before at 8 p.m. at a restaurant near the Ole Miss campus in Oxford. Anticipation had built throughout the day as reports said he would spurn the Rebels and Mississippi State, as well as Alabama and Auburn, to head to Baton Rouge.
In making his announcement, Liggins, who called his recruitment “a long and stressful process,” put on an LSU helmet and said, “Go, Tigers, baby.” He later donned some Mardi Gras beads.
Liggins, ranked No. 93 on the 24/7 Sports Top 247 and No. 118 on the ESPNU 150, visited LSU the weekend of Jan. 20-22. He cited Tigers coach Les Miles and the ability to compete for a national championship as primary reasons for picking LSU, which finished No. 2 in the country last season.
“I was looking at a place that had a great head coach, that was going to be real to me from the start to the end,” Liggins said. “Coach Miles has been close to me since day one.”
Liggins, rated a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, was a first-team All-State selection as a senior after throwing for 1,678 yards and 16 touchdowns and rushing for 953 yards and 18 touchdowns.
He finished his high-school career by leading Lafayette on a 32-game winning streak and back-to-back state titles.
“We’re used to winning, and that’s what we’re trying to do,” Liggins said, “go for that national championship.”
Miles had said the Tigers still planned to add a quarterback to this recruiting class after Gunner Kiel, the Indiana quarterback ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in all of the major rankings, withdrew his December verbal commitment to LSU and enrolled at Notre Dame earlier this month.
The Tigers had also pursued Jameis Winston of Hueytown, Ala., but he committed to Florida State. Liggins gives LSU four scholarship quarterbacks for next season, joining Zach Mettenberger, who will be a junior next season, and redshirt freshmen Stephen Rivers and Jerrard Randle.
Liggins’ decision was the most dramatic development of the day, but not the only recruiting news involving the Tigers. Late Monday night, Scout.com reported that Corey Thompson, a four-star safety from Missouri City, Texas, switched his commitment from Texas A&M to LSU. That would give the Tigers 23 commitments, and they can sign up to 25.
Another LSU commitment said he was postponing his signing while he gets his academics in order, and a 2013 Tigers commitment again appeared committed after some uncertainty developed over the weekend.
Bossier City Airline tight end John Thomas told the Shreveport Times that he is still committed to the Tigers but will likely delay his signing until at least April because of academic issues. He told the paper he has until the end of the school year to get his grades up enough to be academically eligible as a freshman this fall.
Thomas (6-5, 225) is a member of The Advocate Super Dozen, is No. 121 on the Scout.com 300 (which rates him as the nation’s No. 3 tight end prospect) and No. 188 on the 24/7 Sports Top 247. He is rated highly despite having missed his senior season with an August ACL injury.
Jeryl Brazil (5-9, 185) of Loranger appeared committed to the Tigers despite tweeting Sunday that he was decommitting to check out other schools (Ole Miss, Auburn and Clemson).
Apparently Brazil was back in the fold after speaking with LSU recruiting coordinator Frank Wilson, though Brazil may still look around a bit. It’s a long way to the February 2013 signing day.
Brazil, who is on the ESPNU 150 Watch List, is LSU’s only 2013 commitment so far.
1958 team on parade
The Mardi Gras Krewe of Excalibur in Metairie is hosting a reunion of the 1958 LSU national championship football team on Friday, Feb. 10. The team will be represented by its head coach, Paul Dietzel, and several players. Festivities will include a luncheon for the coach, players and their wives, riding in the parade and an after party for players and krewe members.
The Krewe of Excalibur is the first major parade in Metairie, kicking off the carnival season and the opening act in Jefferson Parish’s Family Gras weekend. The parade begins at 7 p.m. and follows the Veterans Boulevard route.
Advocate sportswriter
Scott Rabalais contributed
to this report.