Former Destrehan star John Emery Jr. arrived on LSU’s campus in 2019 with the potential of being the Tigers’ next great running back. But in 2024 he’s still a Tiger hoping to live up to that potential that made him a five-star running back coming out of high school.
Emery has already played four seasons at LSU, but he has a bonus COVID year of eligibility.
In April, Emery announced he was entering the transfer portal as he looked to play somewhere else as a graduate transfer. But on Friday night, Emery announced on his Instagram page that he will play his sixth and final year of eligibility as an LSU Tiger as he posted “I’m staying home.”
Emery has shown flashes of greatness as he averaged eight yards a carry in 2020. Emery had 75 carries for 378 yards and three touchdowns.
In 2021, he was not academically eligible, and Emery could have made the decision at that point to enter the NFL draft.
But he stuck with it, even though academic issues cost him the first two games of the 2022 season. In Brian Kelly’s first season at the helm, he had 76 carries for 375 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 13 passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns.
Emery had several big highlights in 2022, scoring a game winning touchdown against Auburn, scoring the first touchdown on a 30-yard reception against Alabama and had three rushing touchdowns versus Texas A&M in the regular season finale.
But he barely saw the field last season in a very crowded running back room. Emery only had 23 carries for 121 yards and a touchdown. His season ended with a knee injury in the win over Florida.
But Emery stayed on the LSU campus and got his degree in May and will now play for the Tigers as a graduate.
He’ll have the opportunity to have a strong finish to his LSU career as the Tigers only had four scholarship running backs on the roster before Emery’s return.