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Orgeron knows the importance of North Louisiana to the LSU program

North Louisiana has provided plenty of prize football recruits to LSU over the years and coach Ed Orgeron wants to keep that pipeline flowing.

Orgeron talks with Wossman head coach Dean Smith
Orgeron talks with Wossman head coach Dean Smith

The area that encompasses Monroe and Shreveport, along with Ruston and other stops along the Interstate 20 corridor continues to be a prime recruiting territory for the Tigers.

“I’ll be as visible as I can,” Orgeron said on Tuesday night prior to a speaking engagement in Monroe that included head football coaches from West Monroe, Neville, Ruston, Wossman and Richwood. “We have five commitments from North Louisiana, which we are very proud of. We’ll continue to work as hard as we possibly can.”

West Monroe’s Bradie James and Andrew Whitworth, along with Ruston’s Kyle Williams are among those who parlayed their great LSU careers into NFL jobs. The roster now features NELA products like Neville’s Rashard Lawrence, Wossman’s Cameron Lewis and Ruston’s K.J. Malone and J.D. Moore.

“I know these coaches and these are great character kids,” Orgeron said. “They’re going to come down and work hard. They are used to work and used to winning championships. They’re winners and Louisiana boys.”

This year’s commitment list includes Shreveport (La.) Evangel players Davin Cotton, Ar’Darius Washington and Micah Baskerville and Ferriday’s Dare Rosenthal and Dantrieze Scott. West Monroe’s Slade Bolden is a notable Class of 2018 recruit who holds an LSU offer.

“This is a great recruiting area for us,” Orgeron said. “I do believe that this is like the SEC West when you come up here and see the high school football here and see the competition. You see the coaches, the players and the training. I love recruiting up here. As you know, I went to school in Natchitoches and I feel at home in North Louisiana. This is an area that we must and we will control. When we do that, we will win championships.”

West Monroe head coach Jerry Arledge, who coached Orgeron at Northwestern State, has no doubt that he’ll put in the work to recruit the area’s best players but acknowledges that it’s hard to get them all.

“I’ve been on both sides,” Arledge said. “You go out and you’ve got 25 scholarships. You can’t offer 25 guys and get all 25. You’ll probably offer 50, or 75 or a 100 and let them know that the first ones to commit get the scholarships.”

Orgeron’s personal touch has won over coaches like Neville’s Mickey McCarty, who made his feelings known to the intimate gathering of LSU fans after the coach spoke.

“I told Coach (Les) Miles when he was hired that he’d hired a great coach and a great man for the state of Louisiana as a recruiter and an assistant coach,” McCarty said.“Now that he’s become the head coach, there’s so much excitement in the state of Louisiana for LSU football. Here locally, we wish him the best. I know high school coaches are excited and high school kids are excited.”

Wossman coach Dean Smith said having a player at LSU is great for any Louisiana high school program. “Coach O has an imprint on every school in Louisiana,” Smith said. “Everybody has a story about taking a picture with him or stopping to talk with him. He’s doing a great job.”

Under Orgeron, LSU’s area recruiter for North Louisiana is outside linebackers coach Dennis Johnson.

“He was my graduate assistant and he does a great job,” Orgeron said. “He knows all these coaches up here. I took him around personally to introduce him to all these coaches and he’s going to do a tremendous job.”

With preseason camp set to begin, Orgeron took time to brag on some of his NELA talent. He said that Neville’s Lawrence is making great strides on and off the field, Orgeron said.

“Rashard was the number one player in the state and we went through a ferocious battle to get him,” Orgeron said. “It meant a lot to LSU.

“One of the things I’m most proud of is that he has a 4.0 grade point average right now. He’s done fantastic and is going to be a leader of our football team. He’s going to start at right defensive end and he had a tremendous spring. I just love watching him grow into a man.”

LSU was the first program to offer Wossman’s Lewis, who was part of the Class of 2016.

“Cam has a lot of experience and he’s a great young man,” Orgeron said. “He’s going to get some snaps this year and definitely will get a bunch of snaps on special teams.”

Although LSU recruits nationally, Orgeron said there’s nothing like a homegrown prospect. “

For LSU, it’s the best state,” Orgeron said. “I feel that once you lock the state down and get the best players in the state of Louisiana, you start winning championships. These players are not only great players but they’re hungry. They want to play in Tiger Stadium.”

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