On the eve of National Signing Day Wednesday, Texas A&M's loss seems to be Louisiana's gain.
Photo by John GodwinCorey Thompson, Fort Bend Elkins
LSU, which could use some good news on the football recruiting front, apparently received some when outside linebacker
Corey Thompson of
Fort Bend Elkins (Missouri City, Texas) chose the Tigers over the Aggies. Texas A&M apparently also has missed out on
East St. John (Reserve, La.) quarterback
Darion Monroe. A member of Louisiana's Class 5A All-State team, Monroe appears headed toward Tulane, according to the Times-Picayune of New Orleans. Monroe is projected as a college cornerback.
Thompson's decision came in the wake of several defections that more or less coincided with LSU's 21-0 loss to Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game. MaxPreps ranks Alabama's recruiting class first in the nation. LSU has fallen to 14th.
It didn't help that
Columbus East (Ind.) quarterback
Gunner Kiel committed to LSU late only to change his mind and switch to Notre Dame. LSU was desperate in its search for another quarterback to shore up a position that hasn't been as productive as some others during Coach Les Miles' seven-year tenure.
The Tigers went feverishly after
Jeremy Liggins of
Lafayette (Oxford, Miss.), and apparently those efforts paid off because he committed the same day as Thompson. Given that Liggins is a 6-foot-4, 260-pounder, there is talk he might be moved to defense, or even tight end. For now LSU has Liggins penciled in at quarterback.
LSU thought it had a tight end in
John Thomas of
Airline (Bossier City, La.), but Thomas told the Shreveport Times academic issues will keep him from signing until April. By then, LSU will have a new wide receivers coach. The secret's already out and it looks to be Oakland Raiders tight ends coach Adam Henry, who played and coached at McNeese State in Lake Charles, La.