JUCO Prospect Ali Gaye Commits

Recruiting is going gang busters in Baton Rouge and the staff already secured a pair of booms in the defensive backfield week and weekend, pulling in-state stud Major Burns and then going back up the Northeast Corridor to land Jordan Toles.

Sunday morning brought on the addition of at least one JUCO talent — defensive end Ali Gaye.

His path to LSU has been a bit windy. He inked with Washington out of high school but failed to academically qualify. After a year at Arizona Western, he’s now at Garden City CC in Kansas and suddenly turning heads. He’s all of six-foot-six and 260 pounds with immense athletic upside. Those are the types of players any staff will typically covet. Gaye didn’t start playing football until late in high school so he’s still incredibly raw. Here’s some tape:

About what you’d expect from a prospect of this nature. He makes plays largely on the merit of his athletic gifting but really lacks the refined techniques that will be required to thrive in the SEC. Notably, he stands right up out of his stance a lot, so focusing on leverage will be key to matching his performance to his upside. Still, watching him move is a bit of sight to behold. This staff came away very impressed with him physically during his visit this weekend and thus pushed for the commitment.

Sunday morning featured a second #HoldThatTiger tweet from Coach O, which many are speculating to be another JUCO prospect — defensive back Marco Domio.

He is presently unranked, but offers the type of size this LSU staff covets, at 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds. He’s a hybrid player that gives safeties coach Bill Busch some added flexibility. Despite being unranked, he’s got offers from Bama, A&M and Auburn, so clearly a highly coveted talent. Most expected him to wind up in Aggieland but the staff has put a hard press on. Check out his tape:

The kid can really run. Obviously a lot to like here in terms of physical upside. 6-foot-2 and moving the way he does, you can see the obvious intrigue. He’s a cornerback in junior college but I think the staff may envision him in more of a hybrid role. He’s almost a precursor to Major Burns, if you will.

Some may question the efficacy of taking a JUCO DB in a recruiting class that’s this stacked top to bottom with more players in the mix, but the staff is still working furiously to backfill the missteps of the 2018 class where it signed only Kelvin Joseph in the defensive backfield.

As of press time, Domio has only released a top-six edit:

But most believe it will only be a matter of time until things become officially official. We will continue to monitor the situation.

The commit bring LSU up to 18 total and the No. 2 class nationally. It’ll be interesting to monitor how the staff plays with the final spots. My guess is we see more attrition from current commits before adding in some more big-time talents. Offensive/defensive line should be a major focus, along with trying to haul in a stud running back. If the staff can hold on to the commitments of all these out of state ponies, this will be a truly memorable haul.