Les visits Jordan Allen

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Visitors to the Applebee’s at Pecanland Mall got a little brush with fame Monday.

LSU head football coach Les Miles was hosting recruit Jordan Allen, West Monroe’s senior defensive end, and West Monroe coach Don Shows on a quick lunch meeting before Miles headed north for a recruiting trip.

Miles, offensive line coach Greg Studrawa and defensive line coach Brick Haley dropped by Monroe at 11:30 a.m. Monday, flying in for lunch before hopping back in the plane at 2 p.m. for a 6 p.m. recruiting visit in Memphis.

Shows paid for his and the LSU coaches’ meals, while Allen’s family, who joined him at the lunch, paid for theirs. Allen and Studrawa even shared a pile of cheese sticks.

The main topic of conversation was Allen’s scheduled official visit, set for Jan. 23, along with the Rebels’ Class 5A state championship and the Tigers’ 19-17 loss to Penn State in this past weekend’s Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Fla.

“They were talking about all the commitments they already have and who might play or have an impact their freshman year,” Allen said. “When it got down to me they said that according to Shows I’m mentally strong and disciplined enough that there’s a chance I’ll be one of the players that would make an impact my freshman year. I didn’t expect them to come out and tell me that.”

Allen said while that added a bit of pressure to his final semester of high school, he’s excited about the opportunity and will work even harder to not disappoint his future team.

The group discussed the Rebels’ 30-0 win against Archbishop Rummel and what went wrong against Joe Paterno’s team on Saturday.

“The wet field was really the winner in that game,” Shows said. “That field really made (LSU) slower, which gave Penn State a lot better chance. If it would have been a dry field they would have ran all over them.”

The visit by Miles was not unexpected — he contacted Allen last week and told him he would be coming — and it certainly isn’t the first of its kind for the LSU coach or for West Monroe, which has three other former students currently on LSU’s roster.

But while Allen is the only Rebel senior heading to Baton Rouge this year, there are several other West Monroe players Shows encouraged Miles to consider.

“I asked if they were going to recruit Chucky (Hunter, junior defensive tackle), and he said they would,” Shows said. “We talked about (junior quarterback) Paul Turner, and I told him we’re going to play him on defense some at safety, which is what I think he could play at LSU without a doubt.

“He’s similar to the ones they’ve had in the past. And they’re interested in Tyler Cain (junior running back), but they want to wait and see what he does next year.”

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