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Since 2010 LSU and coach Les Miles have done a fairly decent job of bringing in quality recruits who contribute to the legacy of the Tigers football program. As always there are those who don’t pan out, for whatever reason.
It happens at every school. But Miles continues to do an excellent job of bringing in some of the best players from the state of Louisiana and around the country.
The 2014 recruiting class had its share of bumps in the road. Five-star linebacker Clifton Garrett played in just three games at LSU after recovering from shoulder surgery. The 6-foot-2, 242-pounder from Plainfield, Ill., transferred last June to Arizona Western Community College and in October committed to the soon-to-be reborn football program at UAB, which begins playing football again in 2017.
Garrett was the No. 28 overall prospect for 2014 and the No. 2 outside linebacker in the nation. He was thought to be able to make an immediate impact at a position, in which LSU was very thin. He was one of just nine scholarship linebackers on the team. But his injury set him back and he never caught up.
He was one of three recruits from LSU’s 2014 class to wind their way through Arizona Western CC. Garrett was joined there by DT Trey Lealaimatafao, a 6-foot, 300-pound three-star recruit. A redshirt freshman, Lealaimatafao was dismissed from the team for off-the-field incidents.
In addition, a four-star recruit who never panned out at LSU, made his way west as well. Highly-regarded DT Travonte Valentine (6-4, 350), who was ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation at his position, had grade problems and his off-the-field incidents also resulted in his dismissal from the LSU program.
The Miami product was later dismissed from the Arizona Western and just recently transferred to Mississippi Gulf Coast CC, where he must complete a year of school before becoming eligible for the 2017 season.
Yes, recruiting isn’t an exact science. Every school has similar stories. LSU, while having its share, has done well with its more highly-regarded recruits. However, the aforementioned examples only confirm the old adage that there’s no such thing as a “sure thing.”
Glenn Sattell is an award-winning freelance writer for Saturday Down South.
