re: LSU Baseball 2018 (and beyond) Recruiting Thread *Old Thread*

That's 8 sick recruits.... It could be insane next year. I believe even though the players who are returning are huge, it's going to be this freshman class that will step up and make a difference.

quote:

---

Some follow up on last year's class (current freshmen): Perfect Game released their top 400 incoming freshmen list. These are only guys that made it to campus, obviously, so sort of a post draft ranking of what was left.
LINK

19. Zach Hess
41. Todd Peterson
80. Zach Watson
81. Rankin Woley
144. Jake Slaughter
146. Mason Templet
149. Josh Smith
272. Will Reese

---

Ole Miss with 3 of the Top 15 and 5 of the Top 30....wow

As usual, LSU likes to recruit multi sport athletes for the baseball team. In the current newcomer class of Freshmen and JUCO transfers, there are 4 high school QBs (Woley, Beck, Coomes, Walker) and the Class B basketball player of the year (Will Reese), Jake Slaughter was an all-state WR in high school as well. Kramer Robertson is also a former high school QB, Antoine Duplantis' family history of pole vaulting is well known, even Chris Reid contemplated walking onto the LSU football team as a punter.

The 2017 class is no different. Nick Storz is trying to turn himself into one of the best football players in the Big Apple. He's on a team that includes one of the top rated offensive linemen in the country but is making a name for himself on the gridiron: Brooklyn Daily

ETA: Additionally, Tanner Allen and Miguel Reyes are the starting QBs at their high schools.

Both Nick Coomes and Hunter Kiel made the cut for Perfect Game's list of impact JUCO transfers: LINK

Other notables include Jake Godfrey going to Arizona St, Hayden Marze from LSUE to Mississippi St, Handsome Monica to ULL.

I'm sure he's a good ball player just a different name.

He's one of several in this class that we're going to have to sweat it out on. At this point I wouldn't say it's a foregone conclusion that he signs, like it was with Riley Pint last year.

On the plus side, he consulted with the LSU staff before rejoining his football team for his senior year, after sitting out the sport his junior year. I think that speaks to the relationship he's got with the staff and that there are some earnest intentions to get to campus.

On the negative side, for LSU, he's been in front of scouts since his freshman year of high school. He's a northeast kid, but he's got a track record. He's going to be highly valued because he's huge, he throws hard, the scouts know him, and geography dictates that there isn't a lot of wear on his arm.

Looks like RHP/OF Johnny Ray of Quincy, IL has decommitted from LSU and will stay closer to home to play for Illinois State.

I have no further information on it but will try to see what I can find out.

quote:

---

If he's commited to Illinois state then he probably has no intention of going to school

---

He's the 18th rated player in Illinois according to Prep Baseball Report. I think it's a situation where he committed early, but the staff may not have liked his development so his proposed allocation shrunk. Illinois State is closer to home, has a decent program, and probably was able to offer more scholarship money along with in-state tuition.

I had him as a low draft risk and this doesn't really change that. I'll be interested to see whether he pitches or plays OF for Illinois State, or both, and how he does for them.

Here are some notes on 2018 OF Commit Elijah Cabell from yesterday at the WWBA Worlds:

quote:

---

Elijah Cabell (2018, Winter Park, Fla.) and Nolan Gorman (2018, Glendale, Ariz.) were their usual selves for the Central Florida Gators as both players turned in quality offensive performances. Gorman might have the highest offensive potential in the class with the ability to consistently find the barrel and do so with above average strength and lift. The ball comes off effortlessly with a very clean hand path leading into a positive launch angle. To open up the first inning, Gorman waited back on a curveball and and turned it around at 96 mph for an RBI double. He showed impressive contact later in the game as well with a deep fly ball out to the warning track in the seventh inning.

Cabell turned in an average day by his standards with a pair of base hits. The timing for Cabell is still a bit raw, but every hitting tool is present. He’s showed plus raw power in past events, but showcased the ability to go the other way with loud impact and extension. He creates easy leverage with big time strength through the point of contact and drive ability to all fields. His lower half doesn’t always fire on time, but he uses it well and can clean that up with experience and repetition.

---

Perfect Game

Here is a blurb from PBR about 2017 RHP Devin Fontenot:

quote:

---

Louisiana State commit. 6-foot-2, 178-pound frame. Works from a ¾ slot with whippy arm action and a smooth delivery. His fastball has arm-side run at 87-89 mph, topping out at 90 mph. His slider has sweepy lateral action at 75-76 mph.

---

PBR