LSU Football Recruiting: Weekend Recap and Kenny Young Visit

This past weekend was official visit eve, and LSU hosted a strong group of recruits. Though no pledges were made public, the closer we inch to signing day, the more you can anticipate recruits will hold out to announce. Still, all reports indicate the weekend was a major success. Here's an update of where things stand now, and some tidbits about Kenny Young, who arrived on Sunday for his OV with the coaching staff.

Travonte Valentine

Valentine was easily the biggest target on campus this weekend, in both stature and prestige. A former Cane commit, things have been trending LSU's way for some time now. Despite some flight troubles, Valentine arrived late Friday evening and the rest of the visit went well.

Though Valentine did not give a public pledge, reports are that he may cancel his previously scheduled official visit to Miami and shut down his process leading up to his announcement on National Signing Day. If true, there's really no reason for LSU fans to not have the utmost confidence.

We're all still sore from 1/2, but if your bookie is setting odds on Valentine, take LSU.

Derrick Kelly Jr.

There's less scuttle on Kelly coming out of the weekend, but we do know the trip went well. As it stands, this is an LSU/FSU battle, but I believe LSU holds the keys here, as I'm not sure FSU ranks Kelly above other prospects on their board. Kelly is scheduled to trip to Tallahassee next weekend, but unless the Noles receive some bad news from other prospects, I suspect they won't put a full court press on Kelly... which should be enough to drive him out of his home state and on to Baton Rouge.

Russell Gage

There are reports circulating that Gage finally received his LSU offer. I remain bearish on his overall potential as a BCS-caliber contributor, but I can't help but be happy for the kid, who has patiently bided his time awaiting the Tigers to come through. If Gage did, in fact, receive a commitable offer, I suspect we'll hear news of his pledge shortly.

Emanuel Porter

I've not seen much talk of Porter from the weekend yet, so we'll have to play wait and see on this one. Perhaps the staff is slow playing him? Perhaps his family wanted him to come home to talk through everything? Perhaps he's just sold on staying in Texas and playing near his home town of Dallas? Hard to know at this point, but I'll keep an eye on it.

Update: Looks like 7 Crystal Ball picks for him to LSU in the last day or so. Probably a good sign.

Deondre Clark

Clark took the time to Instagram a picture of himself in an LSU jersey with the tagline of "Home." I think it's clear how he feels about LSU... the question will be what he and his family thinks is best. His mother does have a tight bond with Coach Haley and she did spend most of the weekend hanging with him. She's gone radio silent on Twitter after talking up OU's visit last weekend.

Was the visit enough to make mom feel comfortable? Could mom's health be enough to drive Deondre to stay in Oklahoma? The coaches seem to feel confident that they solidified his decision, but it's so, so hard to fight against family if she is, in fact, still questioning.

Davon Godchaux

Little word here, either, but Godchaux did tweet a couple of positive things about the visit. My guess is he sticks with his pledge.

Malachi Dupre

Dupre visited Florida State this weekend and quickly took to heaping praise upon the trip as the "best," among others. The tweets will give many LSU fans pause for concern, and not without reason. FSU is an attractive destination, with their National Title and Heisman QB. But I'd caution against reading too much into the comments. Dupre's been to LSU at least three times unofficially and then again last weekend for his OV. That he wouldn't go crazy over seeing a place he's been to so many times is pretty natural human reaction. Florida is new, fresh and fun. Of course they rolled out the red carpet as well.

Ultimately, sources on the LSU side continue to feel strongly that Dupre picks LSU. The lone non-LSU pick on the crystal ball is still for UCLA. Ultimately, I think Dupre is a kid just enjoying the process, taking in all the fun of the visits, but can't be swayed from staying home in Louisiana. Surely the opportunity ahead for playing time is not lost on him.

Breeland Speaks

The Ole Miss DT commit that visited the weekend of the 17th, took in Oxford this weekend and reaffirmed his pledge to the Rebels. LSU put it's best foot forward and definitely made an impression on Speaks and family, but in the end it proved too little too late.

Kenny Young

Young is a player I'm still struggling to get a grasp on recruiting wise. He's visited Arkansas, Oklahoma State, and Texas A&M all in the last two weeks. He arrived in Baton Rouge last night for his official visit and will cap it off with a trip to UCLA this weekend.

The trend right now is Young to UCLA, but LSU did recently cancel on LB Otaro Alaka, which could be an indication they feel stronger about their place with Young than people realize. There are no other LB targets left on board, so expect the staff to put on the full court press today and let Kenny know how important he is to this class. UCLA will undoubtedly seek to play the "teammates for life" card to he and Dupre, but I'm not sure how big of a draw it is to either player. They don't seem to interact a ton on Twitter, and they've made no indication that either of their decisions or interests is tied to one another. That said, both could very well wind up in California... or together in Louisiana.

These last few days are sure to be fast and furious. There will be no shortage of rumors, some of which come from substance, others are poorly sourced or outright made up. There's one last official visitor weekend left for the Tigers to impress coming, but for today, all eyes are on Kenny Young.