Five football recruits to enroll at LSU today

Today is the first day of the spring semester for LSU students, which includes five players that will sign with LSU as part of the top ranked recruiting class that Les Miles is assembling.

LB Kevin Minter, ATH/RB Drayton Calhoun, QB Chris Garrett, ATH Dexter Pratt and No. 1 QB recruit Russell Shepard will all enroll at LSU today and will be eligible to participate in Spring practice for the LSU football team.

Also enrolling today are 2008 signee Rockey Duplessis (DB from Belle Chasse) and Derek Helton (Kicker from Fort Scott Community College in Kansas).

All of these players will make it official on National Signing Day, which is Wednesday, February 4th.

Speaking of National Signing Day, there is a movement to have a second signing day added to the recruiting process.

Per this article, the American Football Coaches Association is asking that the an early signing day happen on the third week of December, citing that most coaches are in favor of it, and most players are verbally committed to a team by that time:

quote:

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"We're looking for an early signing day in the third week of December," Rob Ianello, Notre Dame assistant and head of the AFCA FBS Assistant Coaches Committee, said at the coaches convention in Nashville. "There are more than 1,000 verbal committments right now, and about 15 per school. Why not sign them? Is it a reservation or a committment? What we're seeing is oversigning and late switches. An earlier signing day would also be cost effective."

Ianello said the large majority of coaches are in favor of a signing day before the traditional one in February.

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Discuss this idea on the Recruiting Board.

In Men's Basketball news, the Tiger lost their SEC opener to Alabama in Tuscaloosa, 65-59. Marcus Thornton led LSU with 21 points. LSU only trailed by three points with 29 seconds left in the game, but Alabama was able to make five free throws at the end to seal the victory.

One stat that stands out the most is that Alabama attempted 35 free throws, while LSU only went to the line 10 times. The Tigers out-rebounded the Tide 38-35, but turned the ball over 17 times.

LSU's record fell to 12-3 (0-1 in SEC)

In SEC Football news, Tim Tebow announced that he will be returning to Florida for his senior year. With Florida possibly returning 18 of 22 started on offense and defense, including Tebow, look for the Gators to be ranked preseason No. 1. Florida travels to Baton Rouge next season to face LSU on October 10.

In Big 12 News that could affect LSU, Texas Tech WR Michael Crabtree and Missouri WR Jeremy Maclin both declared for the NFL draft on Friday. The addition of these two receivers in the draft pool could affect the decision of LSU wideout Brandon Lafell, who is mulling a decision to leave early.

Finally, the Coaching Changes board will most likely be taken down this afternoon. Many thanks to Les...er...belowpar for giving us the scoop on who was replacing Malveto.

Chicken (aka Brian Fiegel or The Fieg) is a very happily married man and father of two living in Houston. When he is not posting on TigerDroppings.com, he is solving complex business problems for large multi-national corporations as an SAP software consultant. In his free time, he enjoys long strolls on the beach while sporting his favorite LSU t-shirt that he purchased from TigerDistrict.com. He can be reached at tigerdroppings@gmail.com.