The Book: 2003 Louisiana's Recruiting

[Turbine]

This is the complete look at the 2003 recruiting wars. Wins Losses and Washes.

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Here were the first players that listed Louisiana as one of the schools on their short list.

Jeff Tatford QB 6'3" 210 4.5 (Cajuns, LSU, Mississippi, Tulane)

Matthew Flynn QB 6'3" 218 4.54 (Cajuns, LSU, Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Purdue, Baylor, Alabama, Texas A&M, Texas Tech)

Jordan Jackson WR 6'6" 200 4.47 (Cajuns, LSU, Colorado, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee)

Austin Hall OL 6'3" 265 5.2 (Cajuns, LSU, Arkansas, Northwestern, Texas)

Tommy Jones OL 6'2" 275 4.8 (Cajuns, Auburn, LSU, Arkansas, Louisiana Tech)

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Original info found http://www.theinsiders.com/ Link may or may not remain valid.

[NewsCopy]

ADVERTISER-Dan McDonald
Posted on September 10, 2002

LAFAYETTE - Chad Beck wasn't under any pressure to give the UL Lafayette football program a commitment last Saturday, but he decided he'd seen enough.

The tight end from Woodville, Texas, gave a verbal commitment to Ragin' Cajun head coach Rickey Bustle on Saturday following the Cajuns' 35-11 loss to Minnesota at Cajun Field.

"He (Bustle) told me to take my time and look around," Beck said, "and to make sure it was the right decision for me. But after I saw the campus and met the coaches, I knew it was a place that I liked a lot. I liked the facilities, and they've got good fans."

Beck, a 6-foot-4, 226-pounder, became the Cajuns' third verbal commitment for the 2003 signing class and the second from Texas. Woodville is located between Lufkin and Beaumont, about 40 miles from the Louisiana border.

"He's a big part of our football team," said Woodville High head coach Mike Bass. "A kid his size and ability is pretty rare in a 3A school, and he does a great job for us."

The rest of the Story

[ISUCajunfan]

Anybody know who the Cajun's are recruiting for football? High School or Juco? I think you guys have some pretty good talent, and I think Bustle will be able to get some pretty good players too.

[Cajun1997]

So far we have three verbal commitments for 2003

Zach Leger OL 6-4, 287, Bishop Sullivan (Baton Rouge)
Marcus Ross DB 5-11, 170, Sterling (Houston, TX)
Chad Beck TE 6-4, 226, Woodville (Woodville, TX)

[1stTake]

I don't ever remember UL being the early choice before. Of course I don't remember much.

[ISUCajunfan]

Who are some of the current targets Bustle is after? How about Juco's he's evaluating?

[Turbine]

LB-Mark Risher out of St.Thomas More has verbally commited to Louisiana.

Going into his Sr. year he was listed as a LB
6 feet 1 inch tall.
200 pounds
and could run a 4.7-40

Now half way through his Sr. Year he is listed as a LB/DE
6 feet 2 inches tall.
220lbs
(no word on speed)

[ISUCajunfan]

1) Who are some of Bustle's primary targets out of the state of Texas? I saw that a TE named J.B. Philips was looking at the Cajuns. Anyone else?

2) Do the Cajuns recruit Florida? If so, again any names?

3) Finally, will Bustle try to bring in a lot of Juco help this season or will he rely more on building the team through high school recruits? I think if you guys were able to get a good fast Juco running back and some Juco Linebackers you guys could really make some noise next year.

[NewsCopy]

Advertisers-Dan McDonald

LAFAYETTE - A season-ending setback isn't going to derail the UL program, according to head coach Rickey Bustle.

The first-year Ragin' Cajun head coach has already aimed his sights on the next phase of the year, that being the recruiting wars.

"We've already had two all-day recruiting meetings," Bustle said on Monday, "and we're going to have some more. We're going to hit the road running this week and get players in here that can add to what we're doing."

The Cajuns were humbled 34-10 at in-state rival Louisiana-Monroe in Saturday's finale, an ending that left a bad taste in the mouths of a team that had won two November games and came within a few yards of a potentially huge upset at Arkansas one week earlier.

"We're disappointed with the way we played," Bustle said, "but we're not going to let it dampen the spirits of what we did this year. We're not going to beat ourselves up over the last game or dwell on the negative.

"We just ran out of gas. When we reached into the tank to get something Saturday, it wasn't there. I'm not really sure we ever made it back from Arkansas."

The loss to the Indians left the Cajuns at 3-9 overall and 2-4 in the Sun Belt Conference, but even those could have been considered accomplishments after a 1-7 start and losses in the first three conference games. Wins over Idaho and Arkansas State and the narrow 24-17 loss at Arkansas gave Bustle's squad a big boost late in the season.

"If you judge it by wins and losses, we didn't accomplish what we wanted," he said. "But I feel a lot better about the foundation of our program now. We really didn't know what to expect going in and we were very inconsistent early.

"Saturday would have been a heck of a finish, but we've got to take the positive things and build on that."

The first step in that building is through recruiting, and Bustle said that his staff is looking at signing 22 players in this year's signing period. He said that three of the maximum of 25 scholarships are being held for a threesome that were Proposition 48 absences last year and are expected to be eligible to play next fall.

The rest of the story

[NewsCopy]

Cajuns get fifth football commitment
Advertisers-Dan McDonald

LAFAYETTE - Never was the saying "his future is ahead of him" more fitting than in Jason Guidry's case.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound defensive end became the fifth verbal commitment to the UL Lafayette football program Monday, after experiencing his first and only year of high school football this past season.

"I just decided I wanted to play my senior year," said Guidry, who was part of a first-year program at Memorial High in Port Arthur, Texas. "I had played basketball for three years, and several of my friends and I decided to go out this season."

It turned out to be a good decision for Guidry, who started every game at defensive end for a program created with the consolidation of former Class 4A schools Thomas Jefferson and Lincoln and 2A member Stephen F. Austin. The consolidation created a Class 5A school that opened for the first time this fall.

Guidry finished with 67 tackles and five and one-half sacks during the season against a rugged District 22-5A schedule.

"He'd played basketball before," said Memorial head coach Dean Colbert, "He's a tremendous athlete, but he also became a tremendous student of the game. He learned so much in the spring, and he went out there and played full speed every play. That's what caught people's eye."

It caught the eye of Ragin' Cajun assistant coach Brian Jenkins, who saw some of the new school's spring drills.

The rest of the story

[Turbine]

Originally posted by ISUCajunfan
1) Who are some of Bustle's primary targets out of the state of Texas? I saw that a TE named J.B. Philips was looking at the Cajuns. Anyone else?

2) Do the Cajuns recruit Florida? If so, again any names?

3) Finally, will Bustle try to bring in a lot of Juco help this season or will he rely more on building the team through high school recruits? I think if you guys were able to get a good fast Juco running back and some Juco Linebackers you guys could really make some noise next year.

1) Texas is a priority but, I Don't know.

2) In my opinion, Florida is a recruiters heaven/nighmare. Louisiana is 4 states behind.

3) From what I am hearing . . . In the future Bustle plans to shy away from from going heavy in the Juco ranks. This year however will be an exception.

With 23 seniors leaving, and Louisiana already being below the scholarship limit, he plans on getting some key jucos in the early period, and applying their scholarship to last year. He still will have plenty of room to focus on the highschool players

[Turbine]

According to Dan McDonald of the Advertiser, Louisiana will host recruiting weekends both of the next two weeks. Prep players from Louisiana and Texas and junior college players from Mississippi, Kansas and Texas are expected to take part.

[Cajun1997]

Updated 01/23/03

Junior college signees (already enrolled)


Darryl Blappert, DT, 6-6, 265, Slidell-St. Amant (Pearl River JC)


Travis Cones, FB, 5-11, 220, Houston, Texas-St. Thomas (Navarro JC)


Ed Fane, C, 6-3, 275, Orange, Calif.-Mater Dei (Orange Coast JC)


Kemmie Lewis, WR, 6-2, 190, Collins, Miss.-Collins (Jones JC)


Joseph Scott, LB, 6-3, 235, Hattiesburg, Miss.- (Pearl River JC)


Ricky Thomas, DB, 6-0, 200, Junction City, Kan.-Junction City (Butler CC)


Junior college commitments (enrolling fall)


Ceandris Brown, DB, 6-3, 205, Greenwood, Miss.-Greenwood (Miss. Delta JC)


Antoine Spann, DB, 6-0, 185, Oceanside, Calif.-El Camino (Miss. Gulf Coast JC)


Ken Haynes, DT, 6-4, 295, Tylertown, Miss.-Dexter (Southwest Miss. CC)


Darwin Laidley, OL, 6-6, 280, Compton Community College

[Cajun1997]

I look for these guys to make major contributions in 2003, hopefully we can add 5 or 6 more JC guys before all is said and done.

[ISUCajunfan]

Will he continue to recruit pocket passing QB's like Van Cleave or Rekieta or will he try to bring in a more athletic Run/Pass QB? While at VaTech he had success with both, Druckenmiller the pocket QB and Vick the Run/Pass. Does anyone know how Babb looked throughout the year during practices? Will he automatically inherit the starting position when Van Cleave and Rekieta leave or will Bustle bring in another Juco QB in a year or so?