Hotard: La. never short on prep talent

• By SCOTT HOTARD
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Jul 16, 2009 - Page: 1C

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As a finished product, LSU football’s 2010 signing class is sure to lack much Louisiana spice.

The Tigers, who count 10 out-of-state prospects among their 16 commitments, may even surpass the 2007 number — 15 — for out-of-state signees.

That’s as sure a sign as any that the Bayou State, a traditional hotspot for college coaches on recruiting benders, finds itself in a talent-producing transition.

Last year’s class of seniors was great. This year’s junior class is probably even better.

But before you dismiss the 2010 group as average, consider the early returns.

Twenty-four Louisiana prospects have committed to Football Bowl Subdivision programs. That includes 16 who have chosen BCS schools.

Eighty-five in-state seniors signed with FBS schools last year, according to Scout.com. Thirty-one of those signees were of BCS ilk.

Compared with last year’s class, the 2010 bunch can’t match star power.

Mansfield’s Chris Davenport, Leesville’s Michael Ford, Barbe’s Janzen Jackson and Bastrop’s Rueben Randle ranked among the nation’s top 2009 prospects.

But if you’re talking Division I signees, this year’s group could measure up. It has balance and depth, if not a Randle-like headliner.

In the last two weeks, TigerSportsDigest.com and TigerBait.com, Web sites that cover LSU recruiting, released updated rankings of the state’s top 40 prospects.

At the head of the class, they didn’t agree on much.

The top two prospects in the TSD rankings (Thibodaux’s Trovon Reed and West Monroe’s Jordan Allen, respectively) were listed at No. 8 and No. 5 by TigerBait.com; the top two prospects in the TigerBait rankings (Newman’s Ronnie Vinson and Eunice’s Tharold Simon, respectively) were listed at No. 4 and No. 5 by TSD.