Three-Star Cornerback Marcus Banks Commits to LSU

LSU hosted three-star Marcus Banks on his official visit this weekend. Today, as the visit wrapped, Banks publicly pledged to the program:

This stands as a bit of a upset/shock, as the Crystal Ball titled Banks to the Aggies. But the coaching staff absolutely blew the visit out of the park for Banks and won him over.

After not signing a single cornerback in 2018, the staff is hitting the position hard in 2019. Banks marks the second corner commitment in the 2019 signing class, along with 4-star Maurice Hampton, from Memphis. And five-star Derek Stingley, one of the nation’s best, is set to make his commitment in the coming weeks.

This marked Banks third visit since the Spring period. He also attended Junior Day and the Spring Game. Being his official visit shows the trends of new recruiting cycle with early signing period. Typically official visits were pushed to the regular season, in effort to blow away the recruit with gameday experiences. Now, with more and more players pushing and being pushed to sign in December, coaches are organizing official trips earlier in the cycle. It will be interesting to see if Banks makes his scheduled official visit to Alabama next weekend or opts to cancel and honor his verbal pledge exclusively.

Banks is a three-star prospect, but his offer list wouldn’t back that. LSU, Bama, A&M, Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, OU, Texas & Florida are just some of the names that dot the list. Suffice it to say, I think he’ll be rising in the rankings. Take a peep at his highlights:

On tape, Banks looks the part of a versatile DB. He’s as adept at flipping open his hips, turning and running downfield with a receiver as he is crashing hard in the running game and sticking his nose in the ugly business. He plays with an edge to him, which I like. At 6-1, 170, he’s a little lean, but a solid offseason in LSU’s training program should get him up to a good playing weight. That’s a plenty nice frame to grow into to be prototypical corner size.

The commit drives LSU’s class up to No. 9 nationally in the 247 Composite. With just 12 commitments, the staff is looking toward a strong finish, with a pair of in-state 5 stars left on the board while remaining in the mix for a lot of top national prospects. This signing class is looking more and more like what most expected from Orgeron.