re: BOOMIN 5* ATH JaCoby Stevens Murfreesboro, TN (Oakland HS) Commits to LSU

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I knew Stevens was good, but until I saw this kids HUDL highlights, I never realize just how good.

He easily splits out wide to cover teams receivers, and makes it look very routine and easy. In fact when you watch him play this kid has so much pure talent that he makes everything look very easy.

Stevens is going to be a really great one here, maybe even one of the all time greats by the time his career here is finished.

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Stevens says his recruitment is over, but is it?

JaCoby Stevens committed to LSU on Monday, but Alabama was at the top at one point in his recruitment.

Stevens, a 5-star safety from Oakland High School (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), told our own Jeff Sentell, who was on the scene for the nation’s No. 2 safety’s commitment ceremony, that the Crimson Tide led for two weeks before the Tigers took the lead for good.

“They were just preaching to me that Saban is the guy that taught all these (coaches) from Georgia and the guys at Alabama now, so why not go to the primary guy?” Stevens said. “It made sense to me, so that’s why I did like Alabama.

“The thing they showed me with Saban is that you have guys like Mark Barron and Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix. They showed me meal plans and how they are going to take care of me off the field and in the classroom. I liked it.”

LSU beat out Alabama mainly because it was Stevens’ “first love,” as he described it. He didn’t visit Baton Rouge this summer, but a trip there this past spring was key. That trip to LSU was the standard that every other school needed to beat.

“It was finalized when I visited LSU during the spring,” Stevens told SEC Country. “I got the feeling that I thought I could commit. I didn’t want to admit it, so I kept going on visits. LSU was always that dark horse, though. That spring visit was the secret. The thing people knew is that I was there, but they didn’t know it had that sort of effect.”

As I’ve mentioned previously, Stevens’ mind has changed quite frequently throughout his recruitment. He committed to LSU before, de-committed and re-committed. He was silently committed to Georgia for a few months and had Alabama on top, too.

He says he’s only taking one official visit this fall though, and that’s to LSU.

“I feel like I don’t need to take any more official visits because I feel like this is the right choice for me,” Stevens said. “I don’t need people to try to persuade me otherwise. They all had their chance when I de-committed my junior year.”

Will Stevens keep to that mindset? That remains to be seen. Alabama linebacker commit VanDarius Cowan said something similar to Stevens and now he’s taking all five official visits, so it’s possible Stevens changes his mind down the road.

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