re: Saw Jahkeem Stewart today at Destrehan game decked out in USC shirt and sweats…

1 player will not make or break LSU.How hard is it to understand you win
with players that want to be TIGERS.If he goes to So Cal good for him,they
will lose players from their state also.

quote:

---

John David Booty went to USC after his Junior year AT EVANGEL.

---

Kinda. He had to take English IV over the summer. Also, Evangel was handing out GEDs back then.

quote:

---

So we are losing another top Louisiana recruit at a position of need

---

Yeah, that’s been such a huge problem in the 24 and 25 classes.

What's the source? St Aug has historically made sure our kids are academically prepared for college including student athletes.

quote:

---

1 player will not make or break LSU.

---

One player won't *break* LSU but a player of Stewart's caliber can certainly *make* LSU. This is a potential 1.1-type prospect - not just a difference-maker but potentially a once-or-twice-a-decade sort of difference-maker. How many national championships would be changed if the second best team could magically add the best defensive lineman in the country? More than a few. And, while nothing is guaranteed, that's the type of guy Stewart could be.

quote:

---

How hard is it to understand you win with players that want to be TIGERS.

---

This is the dumbest statement ever. Of course "you win with the players that want to be TIGERS" - those are the players on your team. There's nobody else you possibly could win with. And do you know what's also true? You lose with the players who want to be tigers. In fact, you lose with the players who want to be tigers far more often (all the seasons where LSU didn't win a national championship) than you win with the players who want to be tigers (4 times in program history). All but 4 national championship teams in history were made up of players who didn't "want to be TIGERS."


The point of recruiting is to bring in the 25 (or so) most talented players you can, not the 25 players who want to play for LSU most badly. If it really was the case that desire to play for LSU was more important than talent then why even bother? Most of the ~25 kids we sign in a given class have to be actively convinced to play for LSU; they would not sign with us if we did not do the convincing. But I guarantee you there are far more than 25 HS players in the country who wouldn't need any convincing--"players that want to be TIGERS". How do you think things would go for us if our recruiting class was made up entirely of that latter group? (Hint: You'd absolutely hate it).




If it really were the case that "you win with the players that want to be TIGERS" then we'd be national champions every year lmao. Our roster always has the group of players who most want to be tigers. But we don't win the championship every year because you win championships with the best players.

quote:

---

Academics is more important than sports

---

This is such a myopic and paternalistic and, honestly, envy-driven viewpoint. The conventional wisdom considers academics "more important" than sports because, for the vast majority of people, it is. But Jahkeem Stewart is not the vast majority of people. In his case, the only reason to say that "academics is more important than sports" is because it annoys you that he's has a pathway to success that wasn't available to you, and you want to feel justified in considering that success undeserved. Because if you were the parent of a kid with enough physical potential to be a future #1 overall draft pick--a kid with a real chance to create generational wealth by playing a sport--I can guarantee that you wouldn't be viewing his college decision through the lens of academics being more important than sports.



Like, would it be a better decision, do you think, if Jahkeem Stewart went to Harvard? Would that be better for his future? Obviously not. Because for him academics aren't--and shouldn't be--considered more important than sports.



I always find it interesting that people do this with athletes but not with other "extreme" career paths. What if instead of football it was music? Should Paul McCartney and John Lennon (or whatever musicians you prefer) have prioritized their continued education over forming a band and writing and performing music? What makes this any different?

quote:

---

, he is dumb as a rock,

---

Please explain how someone who is dumb as a rock can graduate high school a year and a half early?

What about the slippers bro?

It is every year. Crazy how some have such short memories. This kinda stuff and recruiting period. I’m no longer concerned with recruiting the defense and since he’s been here BK has done a great job on offense. Plus with this scholarship limit deal, we can now easily afford to take more risks on guys we think might develop and be a star when they do.