Tag: trevonte citizen

With TreVonte Citizen signing with Miami, could LSU pursue Camar Wheaton?

Could Brian Kelly look at a transfer running back at missing on multiple backs in the 2022 class?

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Going into National Signing Day the LSU Tigers had their eyes on one of the best recruits in the state of Louisiana, TreVonte’ Citizen.

Many Tiger fans were watching as Citizen proceed to do multiple fakeouts where he put on four different hats (Auburn, Miami, Florida, and LSU) before throwing them all down and choosing Miami. With Citizen now out of the picture for head coach Brian Kelly, what’s the plan?

News broke out of Tuscaloosa on Tuesday that former five-star running back Camar Wheaton has entered the transfer portal. Camar Wheaton was a member of the 2021 recruiting class.

He was the No. 3 running back in the nation, the No. 6 player in Texas, and the No. 34 player in the country according to 247sports. Wheaton played at Lakeview Centennial High School in Garland, Texas, where he finished his career with a rushing total of 3,731 yards and 48 touchdowns.

He signed with Alabama out of high school and enrolled early for the 2021 season. Wheaton went to Alabama and was viewed as a player who would get a lot of playing time, but that was cut short by a meniscus injury in practice that sidelined him for the full season. He wound up redshirting for the Crimson Tide.

“Camar Wheaton got injured in practice, and he was a really good young player that people don’t know about yet,” said Saban during an early-September radio show “… He was a real speedster and really a guy that could have probably been helpful to us this year, as well.”

LSU came into national signing day looking for a running back. While Wheaton wasn’t the target, to begin with, he wouldn’t be a bad guy to end up with.

Running back TreVonte’ Citizen announces his commitment

TreVonte Citizen chose to leave Louisiana to continue his football career.

One of the best recruits in the state of Louisiana will be taking his talents elsewhere.

TreVonte’ Citizen, regarded as the best running back in the state, opted to sign with Miami on Wednesday morning.

Citizen choose Miami over LSU, Florida, and Auburn.

Citizen’s decision came as a bit of a surprise, with virtually all predictions having him slated to join Florida’s class.

There were some rumblings that Miami was also in a good position, with LSU and Auburn being out of the race.

LSU could have used a running back in this class. The Tigers added Noah Cain from the transfer portal and have Armoni Goodwin, Corey Kiner, and John Emery back, but now the pressure is on to add a couple of blue-chip running backs in next year’s class.

Citizen is yet another top 10 player in the state that won’t be staying home. This was to be expected in a transition year. What the new staff has done to this point is impressive, but they already lost too much ground with Citizen to make up.

It’s still never a good sight for LSU fans to see that many players leaving the state.

It’s an impressive get for Mario Cristobal’s staff at Miami, who is also putting a class together in a transition year.

What time are LSU targets announcing their commitments?

Who to watch for and when on National Signing Day.

A look at the top remaining targets ahead of signing day on Wednesday. We start with five-star safety Jacoby Mathews.

DB Jacoby Mathews

Mathews is scheduled to announce his commitment at 11 a.m. CT on Wednesday.

Matthews was committed to LSU for a few months last year. Now, this is a three-horse race with LSU, Florida and Texas A&M.

It seems Mathews is a slight lean to LSU with Florida just behind. However, Corey Raymond now being in Gainesville can’t be discounted. Raymond is the position coach Mathews committed to at LSU last spring.

247Sports lists Tommie Robison, another former LSU staffer, as Matthews’ primary recruiter for A&M.

Matthews is rated as a five-star by Rivals and a four-star by 247 Sports.

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Lake Charles RB TreVonte’ Citizen names final four

The top running back remaining has released his final four ahead of signing day.

One of the top five remaining recruits on the LSU Tigers 2022 board is one step closer to making his decision. It has been an all-out blitz by the Florida Gators and LSU Tigers to land one of the top running backs in the country, TreVonte’ Citizen.

Citizen was originally committed to the Tigers before changing course after the 2021 college football regular season came to an end. New Gators head coach Billy Napier already swiped Trevor Etienne away from LSU and he is looking to do the same with Citizen.

The other main adversary for LSU is fellow SEC West team the Auburn Tigers. They have also been in the mix before Citizen opted to re-open his recruitment in late November. The remaining school in the mix is the Miami Hurricanes as Citizen announced on Sunday.

The Lake Charles running back was especially close to former running back coach Kevin Faulk. Losing him from the staff could have been detrimental to the Tigers landing him. However, LSU has remained a constant in his top lists as we move closer to National Signing Day.

The latest predictions still have the Bayou Bengals as the favorite. Missing out on Citizen isn’t catastrophic but they could use a running back recruit in the 2022 cycle. We are only days away from finding out his final decision.

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Five remaining 2022 prospects that LSU needs to land

LSU needs to make one final push for these five recruits

Brian Kelly currently has 13 signees in his initial recruiting class with LSU. He has also added another 11 through the transfer portal with more likely to come if he has his way.

The high school recruiting class is led by offensive tackle Will Campbell and quarterback Walker Howard. The team is still looking for a running back commit, with TreVonte Citizen being the target out of Lake Charles. Defensively they have Harold Perkins and Jacoby Mathews in their crosshairs.

With the class winding down next week with the final signing period, there are five recruiting battles the Tigers need to win.

Each one of these recruiting battles is coming down to SEC showdowns between the LSU Tigers squaring off with Auburn, Alabama, and Florida.

LSU to make one final push as they host TreVonte’ Citizen this weekend

LSU set to host running back target.

It is coming down to the wire for a pair of 2022 recruiting targets for the LSU Tigers. This weekend Brian Kelly and the staff have their top remaining target coming to town for a visit. Lake Charles running back TreVonte’ Citizen has been busy with visits.

He recently came off another visit to Auburn, which remains one of the biggest threats to LSU for Citizen’s pledge. Citizen and his family will be in Baton Rouge. Associate head coach and running backs coach Frank Wilson is trying to reel him in. On3 believes that LSU is still firmly in the running but the loss of Kevin Faulk on staff has put them a bit behind.

Frank Wilson is key for LSU. Citizen is big on relationships and when Kevin Faulk was not retained by Kelly, that hurt LSU. It is far from over though. LSU is the in-state school, his family will spend this weekend in Baton Rouge, and the Tigers will work hard to swing the momentum. Citizen is set to take an unofficial visit to Florida and an official visit to Miami next week.

The other target is Ponchatoula safety Jacoby Mathews, who will visit Florida. Both Citizen and Mathews are being heavily recruited by new Gators head coach Billy Napier. Napier hired former LSU defensive backs coach Corey Raymond, who has a strong relationship with Mathews. Both players could be playing elsewhere in 2022 due to their relationships with previous LSU assistants.

It could be a tough sell for the new staff but I wouldn’t count them out just yet with a couple of weeks left in the 2022 cycle.

Michigan State football listed in top 8 for 2022 4-star RB TreVonte’ Citizen

Michigan State football is one of eight schools still in the running for an elite running back in the 2022 class

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Michigan State football is one of eight schools still in the running for an elite running back in the 2022 class.

Four-star running back TreVonte’ Citizen revealed his top eight list on Thursday, which includes Michigan State. The Spartans were joined by Auburn, Nebraska, USC, Florida, Miami (FL), LSU and Grambling State.

Citizen was previously committed to LSU but opened up his recruitment shortly after Brian Kelly was hired as the head coach. He’s from Lake Charles, La.

Citizen is ranked as the No. 9 running back and No. 113 overall prospect in 247Sports’ composite rankings for the 2022 class.

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TreVonte’ Citizen drops his top eight schools as decision day draws near

Citizen reveals his top eight schools.

As the chase for Lake Charles running back TreVonte’ Citizen continues, he produced his list for the top eight schools in his recruitment. As expected the LSU Tigers are joined by the Auburn Tigers and Florida Gators. Joining the mix are Grambling, Miami, Michigan State, Nebraska, and USC.

At this point in the process, it feels like a three-horse race between the three SEC schools for his commitment. Citizen decommitted from LSU in late November but he has kept the Tigers among his top schools. The Gators are making a strong push to land yet another LSU target after swiping Trevor Etienne earlier this month.

This likely will go all the way up to the February signing day before we get a decision from the top 10 rated running back. Frank Wilson and the Tigers can’t slow down just yet with not having a running back commit in the 2022 recruiting class.

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The Tigers lost one running back from the current roster when Ty Davis-Price declared for the NFL draft. They will get a five-star signee from the 2019 class back with John Emery Jr for the 2022 season. There are options in the transfer portal should Brian Kelly fail to seal the deal with Citizen, such as Penn State running back Noah Cain. He recently put his name in the portal.

Buckle up because this ride could get bumpy as we head down the stretch ahead of the February signing period.

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Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.

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Pair of decommits lead list of LSU high priority targets

Priority No. 1 and No. 2 over the next few weeks.

We are less than a month away from the final signing period for the 2022 recruiting class. The LSU Tigers currently find themselves as the No. 17 team according to On3’s team rankings.

Of their initial signees, the LSU Tigers are missing a running back and have one safety committed to the class. We start at the top with Brian Kelly’s top targets, or at least who we view at the top.

Jacoby Mathews, Four-Star Safety (Ponchatoula)

Michael DeMocker/Daily Advertiser-USA TODAY Sports

Mathews was expected to make his commitment during the All-American game but opted to wait as he still has official visits set. Many believe that he will still end up as an LSU Tiger. Adding Frank Wilson to the staff definitely helps with keeping in-state talent in the Boot. It doesn’t hurt when one of the guys recruiting him to Georgia is set to join the Tigers staff as well.

LSU is in need of a playmaker at the safety position. It was really evident as of late. While Jay Ward did provide some top plays, Todd Harris Jr’s ability was lacking. Not to mention he was injured for a good part of the season. The team opted to move Sage Ryan to nickel and they were without Major Burns as well.

Mathews could have a real chance to contribute early in the Matt House defense and the team could use his ability to create opportunities for the offense. LSU is viewed as the favorite at this point but one shouldn’t rule out another push by the Florida Gators and Texas A&M Aggies.

TreVonte’ Citizen, Four-Star Running Back (Lake Charles)

Barbara Gauntt/Clarion Ledger via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Speaking of Florida, the other hot target is running back TreVonte’ Citizen. He decommitted from LSU following the regular-season finale and the Gators have been in hot pursuit along with the Auburn Tigers. Despite already landing Trevor Etienne, Citizen is on their list. LSU on the other hand is still lacking a running back commit for the 2022 class.

The team does have John Emery Jr returning in 2022 along with Tre Bradford, Corey Kiner, Armoni Goodwin, and Josh Williams. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if they don’t land a back but their depth was tested in 2021 and it could pop up again in 2022. Adding Citizen should be a top priority for Frank Wilson, who knows Lake Charles well from his time at McNeese.

Both of these prospects would help LSU immensely.

Former LSU commit TreVonte’ Citizen narrowing top schools

Former commit is close to naming his top schools.

Another top back is narrowing down his list of schools in hopes of naming a top five ahead of the late signing period. Lake Charles’ TreVonte’ Citizen is close to giving his new list after decommitting from LSU back in late November.

Citizen still has the LSU Tigers in the mix for his top schools with the Auburn Tigers and Florida Gators he told On3.

“I have seven schools, but I’m trying to get down to five so I can drop a top five,” Citizen said. “I know for sure the ones who had offered and been talking with me, like LSU and Auburn, and Florida just got in the mix. So, that’s the top three right now.

“But I’m also thinking about the other schools. It’s like an even playing field. I still have Michigan State, Miami, Nebraska and Washington up in the mix.”

This comes off the heels of our report that Florida is trending for another Louisiana running back, Trevor Etienne. Not exactly the news that Brian Kelly and the new staff wanted to hear. LSU lacks a running back commit in the 2022 class and time is running out on landing one. Both Citizen and Etienne are among the top 15 running backs in the country.

One or both could end up landing in Gainesville or Citizen could end up with Auburn. The transfer portal would be an option but at this point, the talent there feels as though it is lacking.

The Tigers do have a stable of backs, but is it enough to survive the grueling demands of playing in the SEC?

LSU running backs on the roster

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
  • John Emery Jr, Junior
  • Corey Kiner, Freshman
  • Armoni Goodwin, Freshman
  • Josh Williams, Sophomore
  • Tre Bradford, Sophomore

Those are just the top five guys that saw playing time or are expected to have huge roles in 2022. As we saw during the 2021 campaign, that can shrink at a moment’s notice. It will be interesting to see how Frank Wilson and Kelly address the running back situation for next season if they lose out on both Etienne and Citizen.