Hotard: This class somewhat predictable

• By SCOTT HOTARD
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Jul 11, 2009 - Page: 1C

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Are you a Bayou Bash regular who casually follows recruiting? Do you wait until late-January to start worrying about who’s coming and who’s not?

If so, you might choose two words to describe LSU’s early efforts.

Party. Predictable.

Make no mistake, you’ll have plenty of reason to celebrate — up to 28 reasons, actually — when Feb. 3 arrives and National Signing Day unfolds.

But if the Tigers continue at this pace, the list of names that collects at the Bash will prove as predictable as the next day’s hangover.

LSU has 16 commitments if you include Georgia running back Storm Johnson, expected to give Les Miles official word of his pledge this weekend.

And it’s July.

Yes, I know, football recruiting is a soap opera. Players expected to sign with school A sign instead with school B. Players expected to sign with school B sign with school C.

But everything in recruiting happens earlier than it did back in the day — say, five years ago.
College coaches target and evaluate potential recruits earlier. Prospects commit earlier.

Twenty-four Louisiana prospects have picked a school. Six committed to LSU. Four committed to Texas A&M. Two committed to Vanderbilt. Four others committed to Northwestern (Ill.), Michigan, Tennessee or Texas Tech.

Already, the state’s Class of 2011 prospects — a historic crop, if projections hold — has started stealing some of the headlines from the upperclassmen. The process, all the way around, has been accelerated.

Thanks to recruiting Web sites chock-full of workout numbers and highlight videos, coaches have click-of-the-mousepad knowledge of players everywhere in the country.

They also have summer camps, where many recruits earn scholarship offers.