Medical Scholarships

Jordon Corbin, the tight end and defensive end from Lakeland, Florida, profiled here by me a little less than a year ago, has given up football due to a lingering knee injury. He was the most heralded of the 3 tight end recruits from last year. He had moved from tight end to defensive end during the Spring, but decided that his knee, which he injured in high school, just wouldn't let him go at full speed and he would have to give up his dream of playing football.

It's very sad, and you hate to see a kid have to leave a football team before he ever really became a part of it. He got injured in high school, but LSU honored his commitment and gave him a chance to come in and heal. He never played for us despite being a 4-star recruit. He becomes the second player to leave the team from the Class of 2007 after Delvin Breaux decided his neck injury would not let him play either.

Mark Snyder from the Class of 2006 is also on medical scholarship due to multiple knee injuries, and there was some talk in the past that Kirston Pittman would be placed on a medical scholarship, but thankfully that did not happen. Cousin Kirston is awesome.

The good news for Mr. Corbin is that he still gets a free education. He remains on what is called a "medical scholarship." With a medical scholarship, a player is removed from the roster and no longer counts against the 85 player maximum, but retains his scholarship.

I once read the details of how it works, but I cannot find any of the specific information any longer. I know certain safeguards are in place to make sure that the medical scholarship system isn't abused. Otherwise, a coach can simply place any player who isn't cutting it on the field onto the medical scholarship list and get the person off the 85-man list without actually kicking him out of school.

I know that the medical scholarship is reversible, but the process of reversing it is arduous. I believe the player, in order to return from a medical scholarship list to the team proper has to go before a committee of medical experts, and the committee must vote as to whether it is a good idea. As I recall, the vote must be 2/3 in favor of the player returning, or the player does not return. I believe the player may also need clearance to by the committee in order to go ON a medical scholarship, but I'm not sure and I can't find the information.

The upshot is that the medical scholarship program is very good for the athlete and the team. Players who are too injured to play can stay in school and finish their education on scholarship, and the teams are free to seek out a player to replace him on the roster. It also removes one of the incentives a coach has to cut an injured recruit loose, and that's a good thing.

I do think that the system is potentially subject to abuse, in that a creative coach can probably get roster numbers down by making questionable moves to put players into the medical scholarship program who may not really be seriously injured, but haven't developed enough to be contributing players. I hope it's an issue the NCAA is at least looking out for, but so far no one has ever been accused of abusing this particular system. But any system that allows a coach to jimmy up his roster numbers has to be monitored closely for abuse.

Good luck to Jordon. I was looking forward to seeing him play, but now I hope he gets a good education and gets on with his life.

Freshman Review

LSU had seven true freshman play some football last year, not a whole lot by any stretch, but it gives us an opportunity to review them all in one post. How'd they do?

First, let me say that it is the very rare true freshman who comes onto a team and is an immediate impact player. It just doesn't happen that often, especially on a talented, veteran team. This was a team with a lot of veterans around the field, and there just wasn't a lot of room for freshman to come in and play a lot. That said, we had some production from freshmen.

Wide receiver Terrance Tolliver, one of our two 5-star recruits from last year, had 10 receptions for 249 yards and three touchdowns. He also took three reverses for 36 yards. He started the season kind of fast, making a big play against Mississippi State to set up a touchdown, and scored a touchdown against Virginia Tech. Statistically, his best game was against La Tech, when he got 3 receptions for 119 yards and a touchdown.

But don't be misled by that. He really struggled down the stretch of the season. He didn't catch a pass in the last three games, picked up a couple of costly penalties against Kentucky, and made a route-running mistake that led to an interception against Tennessee. We anticipate big things from this guy though, and with a full year of learning to play the position at this level he should have a big season in 2008.

Big Joseph Barksdale was probably the single biggest surprise recruit of the 2007 class, coming out of Detroit, Michigan. He enrolled in class in time for Spring Practice last year and played defensive tackle. He was moved to offensive tackle in the fall, and really excelled there. He was the second string right tackle behind Carnell Stewart, and a lot of fans called for him to start. I don't know if he needed to start, but he sure looked good when given an opportunity to play. He is clearly an excellent athlete and looks very comfortable at the position. He is likely to be the starting right tackle in the 2008 season.

This handsome gentleman is Jarvis Jones, who was expected to redshirt because he was way too small for offensive line, and it was anticipated that he would need a year to work up his body. He reportedly spent most of his life eating one meal per day, and so was approximately 250 pounds when he reported to campus. But they must have fed him some very fattening food, because he did not look out of place at all at offensive line. He started the season as the backup to Ciron Black at left tackle, and ended the season splitting time with Lyle Hitt at right guard. His role grew as the year went on, and he seemed to handle it fine. If his move to guard is permanent, he may be competing with Lyle Hitt for the starting spot in 2008.

Drake Nevis was expected to redshirt this season, and did not play in the first half of the season. When Charles Alexander was injured and other defensive tackles were slowed up with nagging injuries, the team needed to look for more depth at defensive tackle. They turned to Nevis to provide them with valuable snaps as a backup defensive tackle. He looked like another future star at the position. He recorded 13.5 tackles, including two for loss, and two pass defenses in seven games. He should be firmly in the rotation for 2008, even if he is not necessarily going to beat out incumbents Charles Alexander and Marlon Favorite if they return for their senior seasons.

I think we all know this kid is a stud. He's Chad Jones, and we better enjoy him because I doubt he'll ever see his senior season. He was the 5-star who announced he was signing with LSU the same day that Joe McKnight announced he was not. He did not get that much fanfare because LSU fans were too busy being disappointed about not getting McKnight to celebrate getting him. Our mistake. He's got All-American written all over him, as he is a phenomenal athlete with the size of a small linebacker and enough speed to chase down a streaking Darren McFadden from behind. Yes, he did that. He didn't make the tackle because he got blocked off at the last second, but he made up considerable ground on Darren McFadden chasing him from behind and would have made the touchdown-saving tackle if not for getting blocked off.

Jones started the season playing mostly special teams, and looked good at it. His role increased as the season progressed, and he flourished. He returned punts and was the dime back on defense. He eventually recorded 30 tackles, including two sacks, a forced fumble, and an interception. I'm sure you remember the sack and forced fumble at the end of the Bama game. The one that let us put the game-winning points on the board. That was Chad Jones. He's awesome.

These two guys are Josh Jasper and Andrew Crutchfield, kickers. They split time kicking off. Honestly, I have to say they were disappointing, considering we spent two valuable scholarships on these guys. They were not able to consistently kick the ball deep, usually dropping it around the 10 yard line, and our kickoff coverage suffered immensely. According to LSUsports.net, Crutchfield had the slightly better average at 63.0 yards per kick, which would place the ball at the 7 yard line. Jasper would drop it at the 11 on average. In 72 kicks, these guys got 2 touchbacks. Eventually, Sean Gaudet took over kickoff duties. These two guys are going to have to improve if they are going to really help the team. Maybe a year working on leg strength and flexibility will help. If not, well, we're going to have to find another kicker.

Those are the seven true freshmen who played this past year, and if they are any indication, that 2007 class is going to end up being pretty special. Some very highly regarded players didn't get off the bench because of the depth in front of them. The ones that were able to get into the game looked great. Players like Stefoin Francois, John Williams, Phelon Jones, Ron Brooks, Will Blackwell, T-Bob Hebert, Jarrett Lee, and Ernest McCoy are waiting for their chances to shine. The depth chart will clear out in front of these guys a little this offseason, and we should start seeing more of them rotate in.

2007 Recruiting - Terrance Toliver

This handsome gentleman is the last of the 2007 LSU football recruits that we at GeauxTuscaloosa will profile. This is it. The last one. The ultimate. That's an appropriate choice of words. Ultimate. He is Terrance Toliver, 5-star wide receiver out of Hempstead, Texas. He is 6'4" 185# and runs a sub-4.5 40 yard dash.

Toliver enters a pretty good situation for a young wide receiver. LSU lost two great wideouts to the NFL Draft, and needs to find production either from other receivers currently on the roster or from new recruits. Toliver joins a class that includes Demetrius Byrd, Ron Brooks, and John Williams, plus current receivers Brandon Lafell, Chris Mitchell, Jared Mitchell, and Ricky Dixon fighting for the snaps and touches that Dwayne Bowe and Craig Davis leave behind.

While practice doesn't start until Friday, "practice" *wink* started long ago. The team has been running 7-on-7 drills since early in the summer. Of course, the coaches aren't allowed to attend the drills, but there is nothing in the world saying they can't have offices that happen to overlook the practice field, and there's even less saying they can't get feedback from the people who are present.

By all accounts, Terrance Toliver has been a standout at these drills. He has also put on weight in the weight room, which was the biggest concern people had of him. A 6'4" inch wide receiver who weighs 185# is pretty thin, and is vulnerable to being hurt or simply taken out of a play by a physical cornerback. But if he's really put on about 10 pounds and is closing in on 200#, his weight is not a big issue anymore. He'll never be a Calvin Johnson, but if he can be a taller Craig Davis, no one will complain. Les Miles has said in the press that Toliver will see playing time very early.

From what I have seen of Toliver, he is a big guy but has gotten away with playing a small game so far in his football life. He'll have to learn to use his size and height to his advantage. There's nothing wrong with being quick and shifty, but if you are quick and shifty and happen to be tall, there's no reason you can't be quick, shifty, AND physical when need be.

We're going to see Toliver in action this year. He's not going to redshirt, and he's probably not going to be playing special teams. He's not a tackler and he's not a returner. He's a wide receiver, and he's making a splash early in his career. Don't be shocked if he has Michael Clayton-esque production in year 1.

And this ends 2007 off-season coverage. Starting tomorrow, we enter pre-season mode, which means less focus on recruiting and more coverage of the team this year. There will still be SOME recruiting analysis, but it will be limited to more "big picture" stuff or bigger news items. I won't report in depth on every commit unless it is a splashy one. Instead, we'll talk about stuff of more immediate importance.

2007 Recruits - Jarvis Jones

This is the penultimate installment of our 23-part series on LSU's 2007 signing class. It is about Jarvis Jones, the last in the LSU Jones Trilogy, behind CB Phelon and SS Chad. Jarvis is listed at 6'7" 250# and plays offensive tackle. He's a 4-star recruit out of Lamar Consolidated High School in Rosenberg, Texas. He seems awfully thin for a 6'7" offensive lineman, but both Rivals and Scout agree on that number, so I won't dispute it, at least as of Signing Day. However, LSUsports.net lists him at 265 now, so he probably put on some weight.

He still has a long way to go. He needs to get to about 300 pounds before he'll really be at his best. He said during his recruitment that he has never really eaten much, so he'll probably pack on the weight once he starts getting into the LSU nutrition program.

There were a few interesting things about his recruitment. When it came down to brass tacks, he was choosing between LSU, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M. He chose LSU, but because he is a rather young recruit, a parent was required to sign off on his Letter of Intent. Rumor was that his mother needed convincing that LSU was the right place for him, in part because LSU was not as close to home as OU or TAMU. Being a parent myself, I have no problem with a parent who wants to take her time and be sure, as long as the parent isn't simply forcing her will on her child for her own selfish reasons. Particularly in this whole recruiting thing, where kids are flattered, wined and dined, and often shown an exaggeratedly rosy view of the life to come, a kid can really be rushed into an unwise decision by a manipulative coach. I can't blame Mother Jones for being concerned.

What happened next was that Jarvis took a visit to LSU with his mother. His mother met the coaches, saw the facilities, talked about her son's future, and toured the campus. In the end, she agreed that Jarvis had made an OK decision and signed off on it.

Jarvis went on to shine at a recent high school all-star game between Louisiana and Texas players. Louisiana dominated the game, but it was reported that Jones beat whoever he went against, and was one of the few Texas players who stood out.

When I look at Jarvis Jones, I realize just how deep and how impressive this 2007 signing class is. Jarvis is a solid 4-star recruit who shined against other D-1 prospects and seems like he has a lot of room to improve, yet he got almost no press because he was overshadowed by other recruits likes Jarrett Lee, Chad Jones, Terrance Tolliver, Joseph Barksdale, etc. Because of his size and position, Jones will very likely redshirt while he gets himself ready to play, body-wise. After that, he could very well end up taking over for the departing Carnell Stewart and be a 4-year starter. This from a guy who was hardly even noticed due to the depth of the class.

Of course, he could also never be a starter. You just never know. Whatever happens to him, he's going to be a valuable member of this team for a while.

2007 Recruiting - Drake Nevis

We continue the series on 2007 recruits with the 21st installment, this one centered on Drake Nevis, 6'1" 281#, 4-star defensive tackle with a 4.9 second 40 yard dash, and a 28 inch vertical, from John Ehret High School in Marrero, Louisiana.

Drake Nevis originally committed to Ole Miss because he did not get an offer from LSU until late in the process. The 2007 class was an incredible class in Louisiana for defensive linemen, and LSU turned away several excellent linemen in Rolando Melancon and Jason Peters, who went to Tennessee and Georgia Tech simply because they never got offers from LSU, even though they were both very good players. The class was just too deep. Drake Nevis almost fell into that category as well. Fearful that he wouldn't get an offer from LSU, he committed to Ole Miss over offers from Florida, Auburn, Miami, and others.

This was no accident. Ed Orgeron has coaches at Ole Miss with substantial Louisiana ties, like former New Orleans-area coaching hero Frank Wilson. Orgeron has assaulted the gates of Louisiana trying to take recruits from us since his tenure began, and he has signed a high number of Louisiana recruits. He has not, however, ever beaten LSU for a Louisiana kid that LSU wanted. Before LSU was sure it wanted Nevis, he committed to Ole Miss very early in the process. Then he showed his stuff in his senior year, and LSU got in on the action.

Once Drake got an offer from LSU and visited the campus, he jumped on the offer. This occurred shortly after the end of the 2006 regular season but before the bowl games. Since that time, Nevis has shined. There is some chatter among knowledgeable sources that Nevis's performance in drills so far has been a factor in the decision to move Joseph Barksdale from defensive line to offensive tackle. Well, him and Kentravis Aubrey, who has reportedly been turning a lot of heads.

With Barksdale moving to the OL, it is possible that Nevis will find himself as high as the third team this year, which would put him in the game at mop-up time. Otherwise he will redshirt.

2007 Recruiting - Ron Brooks

As this series winds down slowly, we take a look at one of the most athletic players in the 2007 recruiting class. This is Ron Brooks, 4-star athlete (meaning he has no set position that the recruiting services know of), 6'0" 170# listed, 4.4 second 40 time, 32" vertical jump. He played wide receiver and quarterback for his high school in Irving, Texas. From what I understand, his listed height is something of a fib, and he's closer to about 5'9" or 5'10".

His videos show him to be electric with the ball in his hands, but he's too light to be a traditional running back, too short to be a prototypical wide receiver, and doesn't have the arm to be a quarterback. He's also a very accomplished ball-hawking defensive player with 10 interceptions as a senior, and a return man, not afraid to hit or be hit.

At All-star games, he usually played wide receiver, and performed well.

He's undersized for most positions, except corner, but has ball skills to suggest he should be on the offensive side of the ball. As a man without a position, he is perfectly illustrative of one of the first principles of college football recruiting. Always take a risk that a superior athlete will find a way to contribute*. This applies if the great athlete isn't the proper size for any particular position, or if he has only been playing football for short period of time, or if he has not been well-coached to this point in his career.

For my money, given the choice between two athletes, one of whom is the prototypical size and has received great coaching through the high school ranks, and the other of whom is a phenomenal athlete who isn't the ideal size for his position and has only been playing football for two years, take the phenomenal athlete. You'll be better off in the long run.

Les Miles has illustrated this principle successfully with Trindon Holliday, who is much too small to be a prototypical anything at the college level. Despite being only a 3-star athlete due to his size, he is proving to be very valuable in a limited, specialized role because he is a superior athlete. Ron Brooks is bigger than Trindon and has better ball skills, though does not have the same straight-line speed (few if any college football players can keep up with Trindon on a straight line).

If I was to say who Ron Brooks reminds me of at this stage, it would be Tyrone Prothro, former wide receiver for Bama. Prothro was also below 6' tall, but was athletic and had great ball skills, and became the best offensive player in the SEC before his injury. I'm not by any means suggesting that Ron Brooks is destined to be the kind of player Prothro was, but I think Ron Brooks, at this stage, is similar to Prothro more advanced than Prothro was at the same stage. Prothro, of course, developed and developed and developed until he became a very serious player. It remains to be seen what Brooks can do.

*The contrary principle is never take a risk that a bad character will turn himself around. My above illustration doesn't apply if the phenomenal athlete has spent a lot of time at juvie or if he has a bad work ethic. Let some other school take a risk on him.

2007 Recruiting - The Tight Ends

For the 2007 recruiting class, LSU signed three tight ends. The one to the left is Jordan Corbin, formerly called Jordon Hammond. He is a Lakeland, FL prospect (a hotbed of recruiting for several schools). He is a 4-star tight end, 6'5" 235# with a 4.7 second 40 time. Like a lot of superior athletes, he played on offense and defense in high school, recording 25 receptions and 50 tackles as a senior. He appears to be the most athletic of the three commitments and the most likely to be a solid receiving target.

This is Mitch Joseph from Catholic-New Iberia, a school that has developed into a pipeline for LSU recruiting lately, with Mitch, Jared Mitchell, Zhamal Thomas, and Ryan St. Julien all giving their pledges to LSU out of Catholic-New Iberia in recent years. Mitch is a 3-star tight end at 6'4" 243#, a 4.8 second 40 and a solid 28" vertical. Mitch is reportedly a terrific blocking tight end, with sure hands but without the speed and athleticism to really be an offensive playmaker, though he could move the chains reliably. If, in fact, Gary Crowton's offense is going to rely more heavily on receiving tight ends, one wonders if Mitch Joseph might use his blocking skills to find another home on the offensive line.

This is Alex Russian, a 3-star tight end out of Round Rock, Texas. He is 6'4" 231# and runs a very respectable 4.66 40 yard dash with a very impressive 33" vertical leap. He was Academic All-State in Texas (honorable mention), so he's an intelligent kid, which would bode well for him if in fact he changes positions. He is another great athlete and some say a sleeper recruit of this class, and had offers from Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Nebraska among others. Many think he was recruited primarily because he's a solid deep snapper, and every team needs one good deep snapper who can get the ball to the punters quickly and reliably. He caught 24 passes for 7 touchdowns as a senior in high school.

A lot of people have wondered, why have we signed three tight ends (and two kickers) in the 2007 class. They always ask it together, but the answers are basically the opposite. We've discussed the kickers. You know my opinion that it is necessary and desirable to have good specialists on the teams, as these people can and often do decide the outcomes of close games. While kickers are specialists, tight ends are generalists. They are often very good athletes with good coordination, good hands, large frames, and are roughly in the 230-250 pound range. Most teams will use three tight ends regularly over the course of a season.

But most important is a tight end's versatility. A tight end is also the right size to play fullback. If he's got quick feet and good blocking ability, and if you need a solid fullback, put him in the backfield. LSU did it with David Jones a little bit in the 2005 season when Shawn Jordan was suspended. You can also move a tight end to defensive end. LSU famously did this with Marcus Spears, and he ended up having an All-American calibre career and was a 1st round draft pick. You can also beef up a tight end and move him to offensive guard or offensive tackle. I recall that a great Arkansas tight end of recent years made the move to tackle upon reaching the NFL. Dwayne Jarrett of USC was originally recruited as a tight end and became one of the best wide receivers in college football over the last couple years.

While I won't go so far as to say that there is no limit to the number of tight ends you can have on a team, I am not concerned at all if there is a large number of them, precisely because of their versatility. Mitch Joseph, it appears, could move to offensive line. Jordan Hammond may move to defensive end. Alex Russian may move to fullback for all we know.

Or, they could all end up being tight ends. It's unlikely that ALL of them will be tight ends, I suppose, but you never know. For all the talk of tight ends being versatile and easily moved, it is also true that a team needs several people to play tight end.

The 2007 recruiting profiles are approaching the end. There are only 4 profiles remaining, and it is my goal to finish them all before Fall Practice starts, with is I think a good demarcation between "off-season" and "pre-season". I didn't think about SEC Media Days, which start next week, and which I will be paying close attention to for the first time in my life, because this is the first time I've covered college football "professionally". I suppose that could be the demarcation point, but these profiles won't be finished by then, and I was always shooting for the start of Fall Practice to be finished with this. I'm in good shape for that.

2007 Recruiting - Josh Dworaczyk

This is a profile I've been meaning to write for quite some time, and I think this profile is very apropos at this point, following the commitments of DeAngelo Peterson, Ryan St. Julien, and Rocky Dulplessis. This is Josh Dworaczyk, a young man whose name I can almost pronounce. He's a 4-star offensive tackle out of Catholic-New Iberia, 6'5" 263#, with an alleged 33" vertical jump, but I don't believe that. Anyway.

If you've read this blog for the past couple months, you've picked up that a lot of recruiting happens in the summer before a prospect enters his senior year of high school. It appears, for example, that LSU will have about half of its 2008 commitments before the 2007 season begins. The coaches have spent the summer watching these kids perform in camps, evaluating them at their high school practices, talking to their coaches, etc. At a time when the recruiting services and recruiting-watchers are only beginning to really evaluate these kids, the coaches are knee-deep in them.

Mr. Dworaczyk was one of these kids. He committed to LSU in the summer of 2006, before his senior year began. He was, at the time, ranked in the low-30s in Rivals' rankings of Louisiana prospects. Not national. Louisiana! If he was really the 35th-40th best prospect within the state, LSU would not have given him a serious look. LSU takes only about 10-15 Louisiana prospects per year, and the 35th best simply would not make the cut. The 35th best might get a look from Ole Miss or Mississippi State, or possibly Vandy if his academics are strong, but most likely the 35th best football recruit in the State of Louisiana would be headed to Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Southern, or maybe La. Tech. But not LSU.

Josh Dworaczyk was a 2-star recruit, or possibly a 3-star, but he was given an early LSU offer and he accepted. The fans cried foul. Les Miles was stinking up our team with "Oklahoma State"-level recruits. He was ruining our program by taking such weak athletes onto the team.

Then came the 2006 high school football season, where Josh Dworaczyk excelled and climbed up the rankings. By the end of the year, he was in Rivals' Louisiana Top 10 and in the Rivals250 for 2007, a ranking of the 250 best recruits in the country. He was a solid 4-star by this time, and thanks to the lack of depth at LSU, he may well end up in the 2-deep at offensive tackle before the first game of the season, with an inside track to being a starter in his second year in the program.

Did Josh Dworaczyk make a drastic improvement between his junior and senior years? Did the blind squirrel Les Miles find a nut despite himself? Probably not. What probably happened was that Josh Dworaczyk was underrated by the services all along because of lack of exposure and lack of information. His commitment to LSU got the services to look at him more closely during the 2006 season, and they liked what they saw. The coaches, by virtue of seeing him at the camps and following him closely, simply knew more than they did.

Which brings us to one DeAngelo Peterson, of whom I knew almost nothing before yesterday. Of whom almost no one outside of coaching circles knew much of anything, including the Rivals Network, Mike Scarborough, and Sonny Shipp. We may not have known much about him, but I assure you that Les Miles, Gary Crowton, Larry Porter, and DJ McCarthy (his future head coach, future offensive coordinator, designated recruiter, and WR positions coach, respectively) know all him. They know his 40-time. They know about his hands and his route-running and his footwork. They know his character. They know his taste in girls. They know EVERYTHING about him, even if the rest of us don't.

And they aren't going to talk about him, so don't even ask.

This applies to all of the recruits we have. This is not to say that LSU is necessarily going to have a great recruiting class for 2008. It's not necessarily so, but trust the LSU coaching staff to get the very best that is available to them, and to only accept commitments from those recruits who are the best we will be able to get.

Note: Incidentally, after my post yesterday about Mr. Peterson, a lot more information came out through the rumor mill. He reportedly is already a full academic qualifier, who may have even considered graduating a year early last year. His coach says he's a great athlete who potentially can play any position from wide receiver to defensive end (?) if he bulks up. So, he's a wide receiver, but maybe he's a linebacker or a tight end or a corner or a safety. Who knows at this point?

2007 Recruiting - Phelon Jones

This is Phelon Jones, 6'1" 185#, 4-star cornerback from McGill-Toolen High School in Mobile, Alabama. He runs 4.4 in the 40 and has a 36 inch vertical. This kid looks like he has NFL written all over him. He's the perfect size for a cornerback, with the great speed you want at that position. His videos and credentials are incredible, including reportedly shutting down 2008 5-star wide receiver Julio Jones (a guy LSU is targeting).

It remains to be seen whether or not Phelon will meet the potential he seems to have. That is, of course, a question for all recruits. All of them have a lot to learn and a lot of pitfalls between here and there. Phelon, however, has some advantages in this regard. First, he's a coach's son, and much like Sidell Corley's father, his father's media comments showed him to be a high character man who certainly nudges his son in the right direction. I understand his father is now coaching in Baton Rouge.

If all goes well, I think Phelon Jones becomes the third member of the 2007 recruiting class who will eventually be a starter at defensive back, along with Chad Jones and Stefoin Francois. Along with 2006 recruit Jai Eugene, I think these guys make up the starting secondary in the 2009 season, after all of the current starters graduate.

The other important consideration in looking at Phelon Jones is to look at his place of origin: McGill-Toolen High School in Mobile, Alabama. He's part of a Mobile pipeline that has given LSU a number of good players in the last half-decade or so, including Jamarcus Russell and Chevis Jackson. You better believe Saban will do everything he can to cut off this pipeline that has given us quite a bit of talent. You better believe also that Les Miles is going to do whatever he can to keep it open in hopes of getting future great recruits like Julio Jones, DJ Fluker, and A.J. McCarron.

Keeping the Mobile pipeline gong is one key to LSU remaining a national power. The stakes are going to be very high in this battle.

2007 Recruiting - Stefoin Francois

This is Stefoin Francois, 6'0" 188#, safety from Reserve High School in Reserve, LA. He runs a 4.5 second 40 with a vertical of 30 inches. He committed to LSU late in the process, but was always considered to be very high on LSU. There seemed to be little chance that he would not sign with LSU.

And let me just say that He. Looks. Great. He played at the Army All-America Game back in January, which is a high school All-Star game that gets players from all over the country. Lots of 5-star, 4-star, and 3-star players were there, including bright stars Joe McKnight, Jimmy Clauson, Noel Devine, and future LSU-signees Terrance Tolliver, Ron Brooks, and Joseph Barksdale and many others.

Even among that exceptional talent, Stefoin really stood out as having a terrific game. He hit hard, tackled well, and showed a lot of speed at the safety position. At the time, there were other recruits out there looking at LSU that people were very excited about, such as Joe McKnight, Chad Jones, and Terrance Tolliver, and Stefoin had kind of gotten a little lost in the shuffle. Casual observers just weren't particularly excited about him, and some people even questioned whether or not we had room for him in the class.

That changed at the Army All-America Game. Once the fans saw him in action though, there was no more question about whether there was room for Francois. He just looked too good. At a game where it's hard to stand out because no one gets a lot of playing time, he really looked good. That's why I think he'll be one of the 3 defensive backs from this class who eventually start for LSU, along with Chad Jones and Phelon Jones.

Stefoin is a free safety. It really took me a while to understand the difference between the free safety and the strong safety, until I simply started looking at it like this: the free safety is a combination corner/safety while the strong safety is a combination safety/linebacker. The free safety has bigger coverage responsibilities, so needs more speed and cover abilities, and the strong safety has bigger run-support responsibilities, so needs to be bigger and a good tackler. Both safeties have responsibilities in all phases however, so both must have speed and cover skills and both must have size and tackling ability.

The only weakness I see in him is that his listed size is a little small for a free safety. He'll need to put on about 10 or 15 pounds or so, but I'm not concerned. This kid will be a very good player. I'm guessing he'll be on special teams immediately, but don't count him out of earning his way into the lineup as a nickel or dime defensive back as the season presses on.

2007 Recruiting - Josh Jasper and Andrew Crutchfield

The gentleman on the left is Andrew Crutchfield, kicker, Northwest Carrabus High School in Concord, NC. The gentleman on the right is Josh Jasper, kicker, Ridgeway High School in Memphis, Tennessee. They are both kickers/punters, and both have scholarships to play football at LSU.

This caused quite a bit of consternation among LSU faithful. Scholarships for kickers? Two of them in one year?

In a sport where there are a limited number of scholarships available, is it wise to spend scholarships on "specialists", like punters, kickers, and long snappers?

I think the answer is an emphatic "YES!" but with a few qualifiers. Kickers take the field after every touchdown to kick an extra point and then to kickoff. They put points on the board, and not always with easy extra points. Punters are vitally important to field position, and a good punter will help a team win the field position war. The importance of getting quality players at these positions should not be downplayed.

I think that there have been a few games recently where the importance of kickers/punters has been obvious. In 2005, LSU overcame an upset bid by Oregon State in no small part because the Oregon State kicker missed 3 extra points. In 2006, LSU lost a hard-fought battle against Auburn in which Auburn punter Kody Bliss averaged 48.6 yards per punt and LSU punter Chris Jackson averaged only 42 yards per punt, a difference of almost 5 yards per punt, and a difference of 37 yards total over the course of the game in Auburn's favor. In a game where a lot of different factor probably individually were the differences between a win and a loss, I truly believe that punting was one of them. If the punting in that game was reversed, LSU probably wins that game, and we may have ended up playing for the National Championship.

Keeping in mind the above examples from recent history, I think it is obvious that the kicker and punter positions are at least as important as, say, the backup offensive guard position. Most teams wouldn't dream of using walk-ons for the backup offensive guard spot unless a walk-on ended up much better than expected.

Of course, it is always best to avoid using a scholarship. If you can get the same level of quality
out of a walk-on than you could out of a scholarship player, by all means save the scholarship and use a walk-on. That's the first qualifier on my statement that it is OK to use scholarships on kickers on punters. That is often not the case, however, and it is necessary to use a scholarship.

The second qualifier or caveat is that it is very important that you not get it wrong. You cannot have a kicker on scholarship who is not getting it done. While you can afford to use a scholarship on a kicker or a punter, it is vital that the coaches do their homework and get the right one, and not use a scholarship on one who will never be a contributor. You expect that with position players, but you can't afford to miss on a specialist.

But why two in one year? Well, you must realize that LSU is losing Chris Jackson, who played multiple roles: punter, kickoffs, and long field goals. These two guys are replacing him. Crutchfield is the punter and kickoff man, and Jasper is allegedly a really accurate field goal kicker. Both are allegedly good. Of course, we already have Patrick Fisher, Brady Dalfrey, and Colt David on the roster. Fisher and Dalfrey have been around for a few years and have yet to contribute. Dalfrey also has been suspended from the team for academic reasons, but could return for the fall. One wonders if the second caveat applies to this situation.

2007 Recruiting - DeAngelo Benton

This is DeAngelo Benton, wide receiver, 6'3", 195#, 4.45 40-yard-dash, 37 inch vertical. He is a 4-star recruit out of Bastrop, and some say he is perhaps the most SEC-ready of all the wide receivers and wide receiver-maybes of the last couple of classes. Word is that he has great hands and body control, and can shield off defenders with his body, which is a very important skill that most high-level high school receivers do not possess because they are fast enough and athletic enough not to need to that. They say that Benton is the exception in that, even though he is very athletic as you can tell by his measurables, he is ready, willing, and able to fight for a ball using the higher-order skills you don't often see in a high school wideout.

He is pure wideout. He's not an "athlete" like John Williams, who has to find a position. He's not a slot receiver like a Ron Brooks or a Trindon Holliday. He probably won't be returning punts. He's a Dwayne Bowe style, line-up-against-the-cornerback-and-go-long (or medium, or short) wide receiver.

When I started this series, I did not anticipate profiling DeAngelo Benton because it was widely believed that he would not qualify academically. While he has not joined the team yet because of academic reasons, we received some hopeful news yesterday. Benton is in summer school in Bastrop retaking a course he had previously failed, hoping to get his core GPA up above 2.5. He has re-taken the ACT hoping to get that above a 17. If he can do both of those things, he will join the team in a couple weeks.

If he had been able to report to the team in time for summer workouts, I would believe there was a very good chance he'd be a solid contributor as a true freshman. However, because he's missing key development time here, and may have to miss part of Fall Practice due to the issues that kept Richard Murphy and Keiland Williams down, I don't really expect him to be able to beat out the Mitchells, Ricky Dixon, Brandon Lafell, Demetrius Byrd, and Terrance Toliver for playing time. Maybe in a year or two though.

This is, btw, the 13th edition of this series, which means we're halfway through the recruits, but more than halfway through the series. I won't profile everyone individually because I don't necessarily know a lot about each individual recruit. It's been a marvelous way to fill column inches while waiting for things of immediate importance to happen. Coming up, I will talk about the kickers we signed and use that as a starting point to discuss the importance of specialists. Hope you enjoy.

Update: Benton has fallen short of qualifying and will go to post-graduate prep school, hoping to be a part of the 2008 class.

2007 Recruiting - Will Blackwell

Meet Will Blackwell, 6'4", 296#, Defensive Tackle from West Monroe High School in West Monroe, Louisiana. He is a 4-star defensive tackle from probably the most important LSU pipeline school, West Monroe High. He was a teammate and linemate of the infamous Luther Davis, but was never painted with the same brush as Luther.

Blackwell chose LSU over Notre Dame, and it was certainly touch-and-go for a while. Word is that he made his decision to stay at home during the Sugar Bowl. I don't know how true that is though.

Will Blackwell is part of an awesome defensive line recruiting class that includes Joseph Barksdale, Drake Nevis, Sidell Corley, and Kentravis Aubrey, all of whom have the potential to be All-SEC calibre players in the future. This is not to say that all of them will, because not every recruit meets their potential. In fact, it's mathematically impossible for all of them to be All-SEC because there are five of them, and only 4 All-SEC slots.

Which brings up an issue. Some say that Will Blackwell, while he is a very good defensive tackle prospect, is an even better offensive tackle prospect because of his long arms, quick feet, and athleticism. In fact, even Luther Davis, upon committing to Bama, said that he was eventually going to line up against Blackwell who was destined to be moved to the offensive line.

It is certainly true that quick feet, 300+ pounds, long arms, and good athleticism is the basic recipe of a great offensive tackle. It is also certainly true that LSU is in great need of good offensive tackles, as two of our backups have been kicked off the team. For all the talk of how much the Perrilloux situation hurts the QB depth, the OT depth is in perhaps even more dire straits, and Blackwell could probably get immediate significant playing time at offensive tackle, while he would be stuck behind a LOT of talent at defensive tackle and would have little chance of being a significant contributor in the next two years while he sits behind Dorsey, Favorite, Alexander, and Woods, plus he'd have to compete with Barksdale and Nevis to be part of the next generation.

I think all signs point to Blackwell going to the offensive side of the line, and sooner rather than later.

2007 Recruiting - Jarrett Lee

LSU signed only one QB in the 2007 class, after signing none in 2006. It is a risk that very well may backfire on us if Ryan Perrilloux can't stay with the team.. If Perrilloux is not on the team for 2007, then LSU has only two scholarship QBs on the roster: 5th year senior Matt Flynn and incoming freshman Jarrett Lee, 6'2", 192 #, 4.7 40, 4-star recruit out of Brenham, Texas.

Am I worried about the prospect of our potential national-championship-contending squad being quarterbacked by a guy who was reading high school defenses less than one year ago? You bet I am. Let's all be very hopeful that Matt Flynn stays healthy and that Ryan Perrilloux. I'm not really one to criticize the Les Miles regime, but if this situation blows up in our faces, the blame falls squarely on Miles for not signing a QB in 2006.

But anyway... While it is certainly nothing new that I use this series, ostensibly about profiling prospects, to illustrate larger points well beyond mere profiling, let's at least try to focus on the positive.

The positive here is that Jarrett Lee looks like a good quarterback. It's not his fault he may be our 2nd stringer and may himself be backed up by no one. OK, there's Jimmy Welker, who I often have to remind myself is not Frank Welker, the legendary voice actor who gave us Scooby-Doo's Fred, Jabberjaw, Schmoo, Mohawk from the Gremlins, and the original Megatron. Seriously, check out the dude's IMDB page. He's one of the bigwigs of cartoon voice-acting.

Is it a good thing that my first thought about our potential 3rd string QB is that he is NOT the voice of Jabberjaw? I'll let you decide the answer to that. I feel an irresistible urge to link to my posts about why it isn't necessary to treat all discipline problems the same.

Alright alright. Back to Jarrett Lee. You can tell from his stats that he is tall, slightly built, and not particularly fast. His videos show a solid arm, but he won't be confused with Jamarcus Russell's cannon. He's got good touch, and looks like he's a QB in the Danny Wuerffel mode, which is not a bad thing. He throws with good touch and finds the open man. If you want a more recent comparison, I think he looks a lot like a young Drew Tate. In his last two years of high school, he threw for 71 touchdowns and over 6000 yards, but I doubt you're going to see any of JR's patented 50 yard heaves while leaning on his back foot. Lee is more of a touch passer, but his videos suggest he does that well.

Let's hope he's a fast study.

2007 Recruiting - Demetrius Byrd

The young man to the left is Demetrius Byrd, wide receiver, 6'2", 195#, 4.4 40, out of Pearl River Community College. He was a late commitment to the team in 2007, and the only junior college signee of the class. He was a 4-star on Rivals and a 5-star on Scout.

I may have mentioned before that the recruiting services update and change their ratings and rankings as the season progresses, and Demetrius Byrd is a great example of that. He is also an example of a prospect about whom there was wide disagreement among the recruiting services. For the longest time, Scout had him listed as a 5-star, the highest rating given, while Rivals had him listed as a 3-star, a middling rating. Late in the recruiting season, however, Rivals changed their rating of him and made him a 4-star, partially closing that gap. Perhaps it was because LSU, in the midst of a great recruiting class, was pushing hard for him.

Why was LSU pushing so hard for a JUCO wideout? Well, there are several reasons:

• He has great measurables
• Outside of Early Doucet, our receiver corp is very young, inexperienced, and unproven, such as Brandon Lafell, Chris & Jared Mitchell, and Ricky Dixon (not to be confused with Richard Dickson).
  
• We had several other wide receiver recruits who were questionable on making the grades to qualify, two of whom reportedly will not qualify.
  

Contrary to popular belief, there is a lot more to the wide receiver position than running fast and catching true, especially in a Gary Crowton-led offense. All wide receivers have to learn how to make the hard cuts that have a chance to leave a defensive back behind. All wide receivers have to learn how to make hot reads to protect a QB who is being blitzed. All (LSU) wide receivers have to learn how to block reliably. Gary Crowton's wide receivers also have to learn how to read defensive backs and make their moves based on what the defense is doing. This is different from how Jimbo Fisher ran his offense, and is probably the single biggest adjustment the offense will have to make.

As a JUCO guy, Byrd has done all of this much more than his just-out-of-high-school counterparts like John Williams, Terrance Toliver, and Ron Brooks. The expectation is that he will join the team in the fall much more ready to contribute than those guys are because he's spent two years out of high school getting higher level coaching and playing against higher level competition. It worked with Claude Wroten several years ago, and there's no reason it can't work with Demetrius Byrd.

Of course, we only get him for 2 years.

If all goes well, he competes with Brandon Lafell immediately for the #2 receiver spot, with the loser of that battle taking the #3 spot.

If I may make a bold statement, I don't think we would have signed Byrd if the coaches were pleased with the progress of Jared Mitchell, Chris Mitchell, and Ricky Dixon. Then again, this signing may be a way of motivating those guys, because if Byrd passes them on the depth chart, those guys may never play.

2007 Recruiting - Ernest McCoy

Sorry for not updating yesterday. We had a sick baby who needed to go to a doctor and spent much of the morning screaming her lungs out.

Anyway, this is Ernest McCoy, not to be confused with Texas QB Colt McCoy, although at 6'5" 330#, the 4-star offensive guard can hardly be mistaken for the QB. McCoy is a Belle Glade, Florida recruit.

There really isn't that much to say about the guy other than that he chose us over West Virginia. He is, perhaps, the flip side to the Luther Davis saga. Ernest McCoy committed to LSU in October of 2006, 5 months before signing day. He told coaches that he wanted to take a visit to West Virginia. As you recall from the Davis story, LSU does not allow committed recruits to go on visits to other schools. The idea is that if a recruit wants to "commit", he shouldn't still be shopping around.

However, as Ernest McCoy proved, the rule isn't written in stone. I'm not sure what the reason was, but coaches gave Ernest special permission to visit West Virginia. He made the visit, maintained his commitment to LSU, and reported for workouts last week.

I think Ernest will compete for playing time early. He has the size. Unlike a lot of offensive line recruits, he won't have to put on bulk. You wonder if the size has the right proportion of muscle, but at least he won't be bowled over by bigger defensive linemen. The offensive line remains thin, especially on the right side, and especially if Will Arnold is not healthy enough to play.

Still, Les Miles has shown that he does not like to play true freshmen on the offensive line, as he did not do so at all in his first two seasons, so a redshirt is more likely.

2007 Recruiting - Shomari Clemons

This is 2007 signee Shomari Clemons, SS/LB, 6'2", weighs between 205# and 230# depending on which service you believe, runs between a 4.5 and 4.6 40 depending on which service you believe. Shomari is a 4-star recruit and adds to what is a special class of defensive backs for the Tigers in 2007 that includes Chad Jones, Phelon Jones, and Stefoin Francois, all of whom appear to have All-SEC and NFL-calibre ability. There is also Delvin Breaux, who of course has to overcome a serious injury, but who some say is a real gem.

Shomari Clemons was supposed to be a member of the 2006 class out of West Monroe High School in West Monroe, Louisiana, which has been a prime feeder school for LSU football. He didn't make the grades, however, and decided to return to high school rather than go to junior college. He made the grades on his return and re-committed to LSU without substantially re-opening his recruiting.

So Shomari will enter LSU a little older than his other true freshman teammates, and also having overcome a little more adversity. I'm sure it was frustrating and embarrassing not to grades at the proper time, but you have to commend him for going back and making it right.

Shomari Clemons is tall enough to play any position. If you believe that he is 205# and runs a 4.5, he's the right size for a safety. If he's 230# and 4.6, he's the right size for a linebacker. He's a guy who I'll be very interested in knowing how he does in the strength and conditioning program. If he's going to be a safety, you'd ideally like him to be in the 215# range without losing any of his 4.5 speed. If he's going to be a linebacker, hopefully he can be bulked up a little further, also without losing any of his 4.5 speed.

One of the most important and least predictable aspects of transitioning from high school to college athletics is the transition from high school strength and conditioning to college strength and conditioning. The training and nutrition programs in college are much more intense than in high school, and every athlete has to make the transition. Their bodies then change as they get more muscular. Most get significantly bigger.

What separates an elite player from an ordinary player is that the elite player gets bigger without losing speed or quickness. This is true at all positions. Most every player has to get stronger to compete at the college level, and if you can get stronger without getting slower, you will probably be a special player. If you get stronger and lose quickness or speed, you probably won't.

I'm not sure I can articulate precisely why I'm bringing this up in relation to Shomari Clemons, but it has to do with his disagreeing profiles. The 4.5 speed at 205# is nice, but the 4.6 speed at 230# worries me. If he slows down upon bulking up, that will limit what he can do. However, he hasn't played football in a year, so the 230# number might simply mean that he was out of shape, in which case the 4.6 speed is actually pretty impressive. He hasn't been playing football and hasn't been in the advanced program that Tommy Moffitt will give him since he first committed in 2006, and now he will be.

God, I can't wait for football.

2007 Recruiting - Sidell Corley

This young man was tangentially involved in one of the stranger recruiting stories of the year. He is Sidell Corley, defensive end, McGill-Toolen High School, Mobile, Alabama, 6'4", 250#. Sidell is a 4-star recruit, and he initially committed to Florida rather early in the process.

As the process went along, he soured on Florida and a short time before signing day he declared himself open and started taking recruiting visits again. It was around this time that LSU got a commitment from defensive tackle Luther Davis of West Monroe, who had previously given his commitment to Louisville.

LSU has a rule that if you are committed, you cannot continue taking visits to other schools. If so, you are considered uncommitted and your scholarship can be given to someone else. Shortly after Luther Davis committed to LSU, he secretly took a visit to Bama. When reports came out that Davis was sighted on campus and in restaurants in Tuscaloosa, he started getting calls on his cell phone, and he informed people that he was in West Monroe to attend the funeral of a relative.

In calls to his home, reporters were told by his brother, "He's not back from Tuscaloosa yet." When he was called and asked about that, Davis said that his brother was just messing with people. At the end of the recruiting trip, other recruits who were on that visit reported that Davis was in fact there. Depending on who you believe, either Miles pulled his scholarship offer or Davis decommitted and eventually committed to Bama.

This left a spot open in our recruiting class for a defensive lineman. Enter Sidell Corley, recently decommitted from Florida, and a big target of Nick Saban because he was an in-state product. Miles began recruiting Corley in earnest. Sidell Corley's father was quoted saying very nice things about Les Miles, but still many thought he was going to Bama. He gave his commitment to LSU and ended creating a great spokesman for the program in the elder Mr. Corley. He talked about how much he liked Les Miles' integrity, and how proud he was of his son for going to LSU.

Anyway, Mr. Corley is another member of the very strong defensive line recruiting class, joining Joseph Barksdale, Will Blackwell, Drake Nevis, and Kentravis Aubrey. We are stacked at defensive end right now, with Tyson Jackson installed at left end and Ricky Jean-Francois, Pep Livingston, Tremaine Johnson, Rahim Alem, and Kirston Pittman (no relation) all battling for playing time at the right side. Corley will compete for playing time, and don't be surprised if he plays a good bit in garbage time. I wouldn't expect him to be a key contributor this year though.

2007 Recruiting - Steven Ridley

This is Steven Ridley, Athlete, 6'0", 210#(some say 225#), 4.6 40. "Athlete" means that the recruiting services or coaches don't know at this time what position he's projected to play. It is believed that Ridley will play either fullback or linebacker. Mr. Ridley is a 4-star recruit out of Trinity Episcopal High School in Natchez, Mississippi.

Ridley really stands out in one respect. He went to a VERY small high school in a very low-level league in Mississippi. This has been cause for concern among a lot of commenters. They ask, "What kind of competition has he faced?" It's a legitimate concern most of the time, but I think I have some insight as to how coaches evaluate players who play at a level where most of the competition wouldn't even make the team at a place like Catholic - Baton Rouge or John Curtis. They want to know a) how good was his coaching, and more importantly b) how did he perform in football camps.

I have so far neglected to mention football camps on this blog. Quality football players are regularly invited to football camps put on at colleges nationwide during the summer. At the camps they receive instruction from college coaches, but more importantly they get evaluated by college coaches and compared to other top-notch high school players. Many a player has received a scholarship offer based on his performance at a camp.

It is especially important that a player like Ridley, from a very small school in a very low-talent league, perform well at camp because you can get very little quality information from watching their games or film. Even players who aren't D-1 level prospects can dominate those leagues. At camp, you can find out how good of an athlete the recruit really is, i.e. whether he is an LSU-level recruit or a McNeese-level recruit.

I mentioned evaluating coaching earlier. Besides the risk that a player of this competition-level just isn't as athletic as you may think, there is also the risk that the player doesn't know as much about the game or about technique as players from bigger schools. It is intuitive to me that bigger schools (with bigger athletic budgets and greater opportunity for glory) get the best high school coaches. If a player at this level has not had quality coaching, the player may be far behind the learning curve when he gets to campus.

The coaching staff obviously really liked what they saw of Steven Ridley, as did the recruiting services that made him a 4-star player. Despite the plethora of 4-stars in our recruiting class last year, 4-star players don't grow on trees. At this point, the 2008 Louisiana prospect class only has a total of nine 4-star players. They don't just hand them out to anyone, but they handed one to Ridley.

Still, because he's taking a HUGE jump in competition level, expect a redshirt while he finds a position during the 2007 season. We're going to have to rebuild both the fullback position and the linebacking corp (potentially) for the 2008 season, and Ridley could be a key part of either.

2007 Recruiting - Joseph Barksdale

Today we continue our profiles of incoming freshmen, who by the way are starting their summer workouts with Tommy Moffitt today, assuming they are academically qualified. Joseph Barksdale, 6'6" 323#, defensive tackle, Detroit, Michigan, is not only academically qualified, he's actually been in school for a semester. He was an early enrollee, meaning he entered school in January, which gave him the benefit of going through a Spring Practice with the rest of the team. He's the only 2007 signee to do that. It puts him well ahead of the learning curve.

Joseph Barksdale is another marquee name in this recruiting class. A total recruiting coup for the Tigers, he is an extremely rare LSU recruit who does not come from the Southeast or from Texas. He bypassed offers from most of the Big 10 to accept an offer to come down to LSU. He is a high 4-star, almost-5-star player, and you can tell from the stats that he is huge. He is also very quick and athletic.

Unfortunately, his early enrollment put him in a very awkward position earlier this year when Troy Giddens allegedly sucker punched him during an altercation after Giddens had been kicked off the team. The rumors were that Barksdale's jaw was broken, but this has never been officially confirmed. Yeah, I'm not going to miss that Giddens character. The good news is that Barksdale is around and is participating with the team.

Les Miles made some comments during Spring Practice that Joe needs to work on his body. He said that he has a typical freshman body, which I take to mean he's a little flabby and undermuscled for a man of his size and position. I'm sure Moffitt will work diligently to correct that starting today.

Trivia: during the Spring, he roomed with Ricky Jean-Francois.