Take Two: Can LSU hang on to five-star WR Rakim Jarrett?
Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling an issue in the college football landscape. Rivals.com national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com national recruiting director Mike Farrell and an expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites or a regional analyst.
RELATED: Class of 2020 WR rankings | LSU's 2020 commitment list
THE STORYLINE
The recruitment of Rakim Jarrett continues to draw serious intrigue even though the five-star receiver has been committed to LSU since April.
That’s because he has already visited Tennessee and the Volunteers remain a serious player in his recruitment. It was ramped up even more last week when coach Jeremy Pruitt made a not-so-subtle remark during SEC Media Days about how his receiving corps will all be graduating and how high school seniors should be taking a serious look at his program.
He didn’t mention Jarrett by name because he couldn’t, but everyone knows what he was saying. Ohio State, Maryland and others are not giving up on the Washington (D.C.) St. John’s standout, either.
The five-star receiver in recent weeks has also taken down any signage from his social media accounts that he’s committed to LSU and his Twitter page is just blacked out. This could mean nothing at all or it could mean something, especially as the Early Signing Period inches closer.
Can LSU keep Jarrett’s commitment or will the five-star end up somewhere else?
FIRST TAKE: ADAM FRIEDMAN, MID-ATLANTIC ANALYST
“LSU still has a pretty good shot of keeping him but it’s not a good sign that he took the LSU stuff off his Twitter account and him taking an official visit to Tennessee earlier this year. I know he’s close with quarterback Harrison Bailey and it never hurts to have the head coach to make a pretty personal pitch to him on national TV at SEC Media Days. It’s hard to see him sticking with LSU at this point, but I still think the Tigers have a pretty good shot because of everything they’ve got coming in.
“There are other schools still in the mix and I expect him to take more official visits down the road. You can never rule out Maryland right up the road with Mike Locksley and all his connections to St. John’s and the local area. And Tennessee is definitely in a good position right now.”
SECOND TAKE: MIKE FARRELL, NATIONAL RECRUITING DIRECTOR
“I don’t know if he will de-commit, but I don’t think he’s going to end up at LSU. Even when he committed there, I had a feeling this would be somewhat dramatic and that he would take visits and be a kid who could be swayed.
“I’m not sure if Tennessee is going to be the school to do it, I’m not sure if Locksley is going to keep him home similar to Stefon Diggs, but I have a feeling he’s not going to end up at LSU.”