6 Louisiana 9th Graders, Middle Schoolers Already Scoring Offers

The 2027 recruiting class has taken center stage as the bulk of the college football programs around the country have largely finalized their 2026 hauls.   Prep Redzone Louisiana has been running through a series of position-by-position articles updating the latest offers rolling in for many of the state's top rising seniors — as well as a few standout 2028 prospects, soon-to-be juniors, who have been racking up notable lists of early offers in their own right.   But a half-dozen even younger student-athletes — 2029 and 2030 prospects currently in the ninth and eighth grades — have already fielded rare offers at their age to kick off the recruiting process for their classes well ahead of the typical schedule.   Continuing our early-offseason looks at Louisiana's latest recruiting updates, we'll run down the latest offers for those promising underclassmen to watch moving forward.   Note: The recruiting process doesn't ramp up for most prospects until junior year — and typically following junior seasons. But a few top prospects in each class do earn notable offers particularly early.   Here's a look at three 2029 and three 2030 prospects who have already reported offers, including a pair of 2030 athletes with LSU offers.     Jamar Celestine Jr. — WR — Houma Christian (2030)   Louisiana (Lafayette) has historically been more patient on the recruiting trail with few sophomores even landing offers from the Ragin' Cajuns. But Houma Christian's young three-sport standout — a long, athletic and sure-handed pass-catcher — recently became an exception to that pattern with an offer from the nearby program midway through his eighth-grade year.   Carter Gobert — QB/ATH — Lafayette Renaissance Charter (2029)   Gobert is a promising young football and baseball prospect who hit the Prep Redzone Louisiana radar last summer. And while he has yet to post any film, Syracuse wasted no time extending his first offer last month. On the same week, the Orange signed LSU transfer Ju'Juan Johnson, the former Lafayette Christian star whom Gobert grew up watching during his father and other LRCA coaches' time at LCA.   Branson Hudson — 6-2, 160 WR/DB — Ruston (2030)   Older brother, Ahmad, is one of the top prospects in the nation for the 2027 recruiting class, and Branson's recruiting process is already ahead of Ahmad's schedule just a couple years ago. The favorites in Ahmad's recruitments, Nebraska and home-state LSU, extended the first offers to Branson in November and January, respectively, and Syracuse followed a day after LSU.   [player_tooltip player_id='1471211' first='Blair' last='Lewis'] — 6-6, 305 OL — Jeanerette (2029)   No other player on the list has put more on his résumé thus far, at least from a varsity football standpoint, than the Tigers' big offensive lineman. Lewis graded out as one of his team's top blockers as a freshman and earned all-district first-team and all-state honorable-mention recognition. And USC extended his first college offer in November.   Jack Stokes — 6-3, 225 EDGE/DL — Catholic-Baton Rouge (2029)   While the Bears' promising football and baseball standout didn't land the same accolades as Lewis this fall, he earned significant playing time for one of the state's top programs at its highest classification level and not only held his own, but put eye-catching highlights on film against top-flight competition. And Vanderbilt recently became the first college to make a move and kick off Stokes' recruiting process.   Rudyard West Jr. — 5-9, 155 RB/ATH — West Ridge Middle (2030)   In Louisiana's latest example of performances on the track being a game-changer on the football recruiting trail, West Ridge Middle School star — expected to head to West Monroe this year — torched a 10.52-second 100-meter dash at a recent meet and received his first college offer the next day from home-state LSU.

The 2027 recruiting class has taken center stage as the bulk of the college football programs around the country have largely finalized their 2026 hauls.