LSU regains lead for RB Harold Joiner

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LSU jumped out in front for Harold Joiner early this spring after the Tigers extended an offer his way during an unofficial visit to Baton Rouge in March.

From there, it got complicated.

LSU padded its lead throughout the spring, but after a wild five-day span in which Chris Curry, Tae Provens and AJ Carter committed, that lead was weakened … drastically.

Joiner, from Mountain Brook High in Birmingham, Ala., countered by trimming his list of top schools to six, purposefully excluding his longtime leader, LSU, and replacing the SEC West power with UCLA, Texas, Michigan State, Auburn, Alabama and Southern California.

LSU’s hold on Carter didn’t last long. Louisiana’s top-ranked running back flipped back to UCLA and remains solid in his pledge to the Bruins. Provens may be projected for a role in the Tigers backfield, but his commitment was taken as an athlete. Curry was LSU’s first running back commitment, but his role has yet to be defined.

Once running backs coach and area recruiter Tommie Robinson was able to clarify that to Joiner, LSU regained its lead for the 4-star tailback. Yet again, the Tigers are in an opportune position to land a commitment this fall.

“They were pushing me pretty hard to try and get me to come down and they were telling me that they were shocked that they weren’t in my top six,” Joiner told SEC Country. “They have fully redeemed themselves honestly. Now, I’d put LSU and Michigan State at the top.”

Not much had changed for Joiner once Robinson was able to explain the plan for LSU’s 2018 recruiting class.

Joiner, the No. 151 overall prospect in the class and the No. 6 running back, according to the 247Sports composite rankings, was reminded he was a top priority for the Tigers. Robinson’s sustained push proved a lot to the 6-foot-3, 218-pound Alabama native, especially through June and July when LSU’s lead began to fade.

“Well, I’ve always felt at home there and I love the energy that the players give to each other. I really just love the hype around LSU,” said Joiner. “I know that it’s a business when recruiting and they would have stopped recruiting me if they really didn’t want me.”

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