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Tigers' recruiting class stands out
By Aaron Fitt of Baseball America
"He came into my office and said, 'Hey, it's a lot harder this year, isn't it?' " Grewe said. "I said, 'Yeah, it's way harder.' "
Conventional thinking suggests recruits should be knocking down the door after teams win the College World Series. Grewe said the reality is much different.
"A lot of coaches used it against us: 'If you go to LSU you're not going to play. Have you seen their team? They're stacked,' " he said. "So I had to work harder to make kids understand where our program is at. This is the next phase of our program. This class will keep LSU at the elite level. After we won the national championship, I said, 'We have got to meet every single need. We've got to recruit the best players in the country so they know we can win the national championship here and they know we're turning to a new era here.' "
That message has been delivered loud and clear. Louisiana State was perhaps the biggest winner from the early signing period, which began Nov. 11 and ended yesterday. The Tigers officially signed five members of Baseball America's Top 100 prospects from the high school class of 2010, and they'll have a sixth when the football team announces the commitment of two-sport star Zach Lee (No. 50).
Add in athletic outfielder Marcus Davis, who just missed the Top 100 cut; promising righthanders Josh Burris, Kurt McCune, and Ryan Eades; and physical two-way talent Kevin Koziol, and LSU's class has the kind of quality depth that could rival its watershed 2007 crop. That class--head coach Paul Mainieri's first in Baton Rouge--ranked second in the nation and served as the foundation for two Omaha teams.
