As Brian Kelly puts together his first-ever true recruiting haul as the head coach at LSU, there's a clear national trend developing.
Four high-profile commitments came through for the Tigers over the holiday weekend -- three on 4th of July -- and all are from outside Louisiana.
The first commitment was announced on July 1 in the former of EDGE 6-4, 245-pound Jaxon Howard, a 4-star recruit rated as the top prospect in Minnesota and 11 in the nation at his position, according to 247Sports.
Another EDGE rusher committed to the Tigers on July 3 in the form of Joshua Mickens, a 4-star recruit listed at 6-5, 255 pounds and the No. 2-rated prospect in Indiana.
Then came another Independence Day duo:
Dashawn Womack, DL
- Hometown: Baltimore, Maryland
- Measurables: 6-4, 255 pounds
- Ratings: 4-star, No. 13 DL prospect in nation, No. 2 recruit in Maryland
Darron Reed, DL
- Hometown: Colombus, Georgia
- Measurables: 6-4, 270 pounds
- Ratings: 4-star, No. 34 at position, No. 21 recruit in Georgia
But Louisiana did get another player on the board on Independence Day, with the Tigers landing a commitment from 3-star Archbishop Rummel cornerback Ashton Stamps. The 6-foot, 170-pound Stamps is rated as the No. 32 CB prospect in Louisiana.
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The additions mean LSU already has 11 members of it's 2023 class, a group currently rated No. 15 overall by 247Sports -- 4th in the SEC -- but currently without any 5-star prospects. That's likely to change, though, with Baton Rouge WR prospect Shelton Sampson considering the Tigers among a handful of elite programs, as is Washington's top prospect in EDGE Nyckoles Harbor, Miami WR Jalen Brown and Floride EDGE Jayden Wayne.
Regardless of how the rest of the class shakes out, a more national lean is clear in this recruiting class, with just two of the 11 names thus far coming out of Louisiana schools. For contrast, the final class under Ed Orgeron in 2022 included 15 names total, 10 of whom hailed from Louisiana.
Here's how the rest of Orgeron's recruiting classes held up in that regard
- 2021: 23 commits, 10 from Louisiana
- 2020: 22 commits, 5 from Louisiana
- 2019: 25 commits, 10 from Louisiana
- 2018: 22 commits, 13 from Louisiana
- 2017: 24 commits, 9 from Louisiana
In all that's 57 of 131, or roughly 44% of recruits coming out of Lousiaia schools. Kelly's first class still has a long way to go, and it'll be interesting to see how the in-state numbers stack up as things go forward.