Faheem Delane's list of scholarships is already a coast-to-coast who's who of college football
But one of the two latest addition, LSU, was clearly a significant addition for the 2025 Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) safety.
"It was definitely exciting," Delane said. "LSU was a dream school for me because it's known as DBU. Like Patrick Peterson, Derek Stingley Jr., Greedy Williams and so many big names came out of there, so it's definitely a blessing to get an offer from one of the top DB schools."
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound rising sophomore said the first Tigers star to catch his attention was safety Jamal Adams, who earned a pair of All-SEC honors in three seasons in Baton Rouge before being selected No. 6 overall in the 2017 NFL Draft.
"I watched a lot of film of him," Delane said. "And seeing him come up and play like that, it's always been a dream school for me."
The young athlete emphasized repeatedly that that kind of tradition is among the most notable factors as he and his family weigh his college options.
"I definitely want to go somewhere that has a good defensive mindset and good defensive coaches," he said. "And I know LSU definitely has that. I know coach Kerry Cooks, the head coach Brian Kelly, they definitely have a good defensive mindset. And I like that about them. That's the main thing, and I also want to go to a place that fits me and my family."
Cooks called Monday to chat with the new target and extend the scholarship offer.
Delane said the new LSU safeties coach praised the range and aggressiveness coming downhill shown on his early film and emphasized the track records both he and the program have of developing players at the position.
"He definitely talked about it, because I told him I would love to go to a school with a rich history, that has had a lot of DBs," Delane said. "And that's a school that definitely has a rich history. So he mentioned that big time.
"He definitely said he wanted to embrace the history with the whole DBU thing, and he went on his background and how he coached Kyle Hamilton, he coached Harrison Smith (a pair of first-round picks from Notre Dame), so he sort of gave his background and how he wanted to help lead and continue the DBU tradition into the future."
LSU and hometown Maryland became the the latest programs to join a quickly expanding list that includes Boston College, Penn State, Cincinnati, Alabama, Toledo, West Virginia, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, Ohio State, USC and Ole Miss.
"It's definitely been a blessing for me getting them so early, because it kind of helps me pick early because I have time to choose between the schools and figure out which school I want to go to," he said. "It definitely helps with the recruiting process. Probably going into senior year I'll want to know what school I want to go to and pick a school early so I can focus and just be committed to one school."
Alabama, Ohio State, USC and Texas A&M have been the most heavily in contact thus far, Delane said.
And while he said he will be primarily focused on his team's offseason program the rest of the summer and fall camp beginning in August, he plans to visit the Buckeyes this weekend and the Tigers at the end of July.
"I haven't been there," Delane said of LSU. "But just seeing the videos, the fans, the environment, the whole DBU history and how many people they've produced in the NFL, I just love everything about it."
