Louisiana’s notable commitments during September

A hectic summer of recruiting movement came to a fairly abrupt halt in early August. High school and college programs alike turned their attentions to fall camp, and college coaches began the wait for a few weeks of fresh game film for prospects eager to put their latest progress into action. The impacts of Hurricane Ida added an additional curveball and delay to that equation in Louisiana, with many schools in the state’s most heavily populated areas forced to miss the first weeks of their schedules. But a few notable commitments began to trickle back through by mid-September, including half a dozen of the state’s top 50 or so senior prospects. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="136574" first="J’Mond" last="Tapp"] — 6-3, 245 DL — Ascension Catholic</strong> Even on the weekend of the storm, one of Louisiana’s top prospects made sure to sneak his commitment in Aug. 30 before the start of a new season. Despite well-known interest in nearby LSU, the standout defensive end joined first-year coach Steve Sarkisian’s class at Texas. Tapp has visited Tiger Stadium since the decision and spent time with purple-and-gold commitments such as Neville tackle [player_tooltip player_id="136546" first="Will" last="Campbell"], so the battle for his eventual signature may still be far from complete. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="129057" first="Danny" last="Lewis"] Jr. — 6-5, 225 TE — Westgate</strong> The big, versatile athlete made the first announcement of the new regular season with his Sept. 6 pledge to Cincinnati. The highly ranked Bearcats don’t have much of a history for recruiting The Boot. The lone former Louisiana high school standout on the current roster, former Destrehan wide receiver Michael Young Jr., initially signed with Notre Dame in 2017 before eventually finding his way to Cincinnati as a graduate transfer. Lewis would be a nice place to start, though, as a big, smooth pass-catcher already nearly the size of the upperclassman atop the program’s depth chart this fall. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="136629" first="Lorenzell" last="Dubose"] — 6-1, 170 DB — Neville</strong> Louisiana Tech added another highly talented cornerback to its class Sept. 16 in the Neville star, whose list of offers also included Oklahoma, Mississippi State, Oregon State, Purdue and Jackson State. He joins [player_tooltip player_id="136628" first="Rayshawn" last="Pleasant"], from cross-river rival West Monroe, as two of Louisiana’s top three prospects at the position to make college plans in nearby Ruston. And Louisiana Tech is still working to flip Pleasant’s teammate [player_tooltip player_id="136635" first="Ja’dais" last="Richard"] from his July pledge to TCU. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="136634" first="Corey" last="Lambert"] Jr. — 6-1, 195 ATH — Brother Martin</strong> One of the veteran leaders of one of the top contenders in the state's top select school classification finally got a long-awaited opportunity to hit the road this summer with his family and check out a few of his top options. And after some consideration, Lambert felt comfortable enough with the football, university and community fit at Nevada to announce a commitment Sept. 18 over Illinois, Purdue, Duke, the service academies, multiple Ivy League members and a long list of options. He plays safety for his Crusaders and does well patrolling the back end and making opportunistic plays for takeaways, but arguably even more so coming down into the box and helping fit the run. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="127864" first="Corey" last="Singleton"] Jr. — 5-10, 205 RB — Catholic (Baton Rouge)</strong> Army continued its recent run of recruiting success in Baton Rouge with the underrated running back, who was the eventual Division-I champions’ biggest home-run hitter out of a loaded backfield in 2020. Singleton worked his way back from a late-season injury this spring and summer to enter his senior campaign as the clear lead back after George Hart III’s graduation and departure for Arizona State. And even a few Power Five coaches were watching for his latest tape after the recovery. But the connection with the Black Knights, where former teammates Connor Finucane and [player_tooltip player_id="63608" first="Michael" last="Cerniauskas"] are in their sophomore and freshman years, respectively, was too appealing to ignore. Singleton announced his plans Sept. 19. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="127857" first="Marlon" last="Gunn"] Jr. — 6-0, 205 RB — Scotlandville</strong> Another top running back, with offers from Virginia, Florida State, TCU, Purdue, Louisiana (Lafayette), Louisiana Tech, SMU and more, made an abrupt announcement Sept. 23 to commit to East Carolina. The Scotlandville star is a versatile weapon capable of gaining difficult yards between the tackles, bursting upfield for huge gains when he has space or hauling in receptions out of the backfield or the slot. With Gunn’s decision, six of the state’s top nine running backs are now publicly committed, with another in Istrouma’s [player_tooltip player_id="127859" first="Le’Veon" last="Moss"] seemingly leaning heavily into a short list of Alabama, LSU and Texas A&amp;M.