Tag: Zalance Heard

Four-star athlete Khai Prean commits to LSU

Prean gives the Tigers 21 commits for the 2023 class, which ranks sixth nationally.

The Tigers’ run of success in the state of Louisiana for the 2023 class continued on Tuesday as coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] picked up a commitment from a top in-state talent.

Four-star St. James athlete [autotag]Khai Prean[/autotag] chose the Tigers over Auburn, Florida State and Mississippi State. Prean, who plays both receiver and in the secondary at the high school level but will likely stick to offense for LSU, is rated as the No. 259 overall prospect and the 15th-best in Louisiana.

His commitment gives LSU 21 commits in total for the 2023 class. The Tigers’ group remains ranked sixth nationally, but if they could pick up another commitment — such as five-star in-state tackle [autotag]Zalance Heard[/autotag] — they could sneak into the top five.

Despite early concerns about his recruiting acumen in the Pelican State, Kelly has been crushing it on the trail in the Tigers’ backyard. Just in the month of August, he has picked up pledges from five-star receiver [autotag]Shelton Sampson Jr.[/autotag] and four-star quarterback [autotag]Rickie Collins[/autotag] (both natives of Baton Rouge) and defensive back [autotag]Kylin Jackson[/autotag] (Zachary).

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Let’s Talk About It: How is ‘Recruiting the Boot’ going for LSU?

Coach Brian Kelly has silenced much of the criticism surrounding his in-state recruiting.

For the past few months, there have been many posts on social media and football message boards about how LSU coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] was not doing a great job recruiting the best players from Louisiana. So, we’re going to take a look into how well the Tigers are doing when it comes to ‘Recruiting the Boot’.

Of the top 15 recruits in Louisiana for the class of 2023, LSU currently has five commits ([autotag]Shelton Sampson Jr.[/autotag], [autotag]Kaleb Jackson[/autotag], [autotag]Kylin Jackson[/autotag], [autotag]Rickie Collins[/autotag] and [autotag]Tyree Adams[/autotag]) and they have  Crystal Ball projections for two more ([autotag]Zalance Heard[/autotag] and [autotag]Khai Prean[/autotag]).

If you go back one more spot, LSU could possibly land eight out of the top 16 players in the state — [autotag]Trey Holly[/autotag], another LSU commit, is No. 16 on the list.

Sure, Kelly missed out on some of the top prospects like [autotag]Arch Manning[/autotag], [autotag]Derek Williams[/autotag], [autotag]Eli Holstein[/autotag] and [autotag]Tackett Curtis[/autotag], but this isn’t Pokémon.

You aren’t going to catch them all.

Landing 50% of the top 16 players in the state is a very high clip. It’s also a lot more than anyone else has in your state. Out of the top 16 players, LSU could land eight while Texas has two (Manning and Williams). Alabama ([autotag]Eli Holstein[/autotag]), USC ([autotag]Tackett Curtis[/autotag]), Notre Dame ([autotag]Jaiden Ausberry[/autotag]), Nebraska ([autotag]Omarion Miller[/autotag]), Tennessee ([autotag]Jordan Matthews[/autotag]), and Washington ([autotag]Curley Reed[/autotag]) each have one.

No, it has not been a perfect recruiting cycle, but, in my opinion, it has been pretty successful.

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5-star LSU target sets his commitment date

The Tigers will look to pull yet another elite Louisiana prospect.

[autotag]Zalance Heard[/autotag] is a 6-foot-5, 300-pound offensive tackle from Monroe, Louisiana, where he plays for Neville High School. The Tigers finished last season 11-2 with a loss in the LHSAA Class 4A state semifinals to Warren Easton.

On Monday, he announced a commitment date of Sept. 1, when he will decide between Nebraska, Florida, Houston, Florida State and LSU.

Heard is ranked as a five-star by On3, which lists him as the No. 13 overall player in the 2023 recruiting class. [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] has been on a roll lately when it comes to recruiting the boot as he has landed commitments from a trio of blue-chip recruits. ([autotag]Shelton Sampson Jr.[/autotag], [autotag]Rickie Collins[/autotag], [autotag]Kylin Jackson[/autotag]).

Those commitments and Kelly’s narrative of ‘Recruit the Boot’ have helped the Tigers land some of the best athletes in what Kelly calls ‘The State of Football‘. The type of offense Kelly likes to use is a pro-style offense where there will be a huge focus on running the football, and being successful in the running games starts in the trenches. Heard is a guy that could help the Tigers a lot in that aspect.

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Cornhuskers Are Finalists for 2023 5-Star OT

The Nebraska Cornhuskers are finalists for one of the best OT prospects in the 2023 class.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers are finalists for one of the best prospects in the 2023 class.

According to On3’s Sam Spiegelman, offensive tackle Zalance Heard will announce his decision on September 1, and his final five schools are Nebraska, Houston, LSU, Florida, and Florida State.

On3 ranks Heard as the 13th-best prospect in the 2023 class. 247 Sports is not quite as high on Heard, as they ranked him as the 63rd overall prospect in the nation.

Heard is listed at 6’5″ and 300 pounds. He attends Neville High School in Monroe, Louisiana.

Heard visited Nebraska in June. 247 Sports’ Crystal Ball predicts Heard will commit to LSU.

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Opinion: Brian Kelly’s Louisiana recruiting earns stamp of approval

With Shelton Sampson Jr. on board, Kelly has eased concerns about in-state recruiting.

I have never been Brian Kelly’s biggest defender nor his biggest critic.

I’ve always said he is a competent coach who will win a handful of football games wherever he is. He isn’t Nick Saban, but then again, who is?

I think too much was made about how Kelly fit at LSU. Lincoln Riley is from Lubbock, Texas, and nobody made a fuss when he ended up in Southern California.

We also watched Saban and Les Miles win championships at LSU. Neither one of those guys screams Louisiana. If you win football games, people don’t really care about where you’re from, and Kelly has won a lot of football games.

There were questions on how he’d fare recruiting Louisiana. Some of that was because there was all that noise about the culture fit, and some of it was because he’s never been seen as an ace recruiter.

The first few months were iffy. It was a challenge to gain momentum with recruits during the transition. LSU watched as other schools made progress with top recruits like [autotag]Derek Williams[/autotag] and [autotag]Tackett Curtis[/autotag]. Longtime commit [autotag]Omarion Miller[/autotag] flipped and followed [autotag]Mickey Joseph[/autotag] to Nebraska.

LSU was having success nationally, but I wanted to see more success in Louisiana. Over the last month or so, Kelly has eased any criticism I had on that front.

LSU pulled in commitments from Louisiana prospects OT [autotag]Tyree Adams[/autotag] and RB [autotag]Kaleb Jackson[/autotag].

The big one came on Saturday when WR [autotag]Shelton Sampson Jr.[/autotag] gave his pledge and LSU got one of it’s biggest targets.

Sampson was a guy LSU could not miss on. A five-star receiver from Baton Rouge. If Kelly couldn’t seal the deal here, his critics were going to have a field day.

LSU has been building steam with OT [autotag]Zalance Heard[/autotag]. A big-time prospect from Monroe, Louisiana, who On3 has as a five-star.

Baton Rouge quarterback [autotag]Rickie Collins[/autotag] recently decommitted from Purdue and looks destined to end up a Tiger. Safety [autotag]Kylin Jackson[/autotag] received a 247Sports Crystal Ball to LSU earlier this month.

When it’s all said and done, LSU is going to have a solid class of Louisiana recruits. The Tigers still need to show improvement on the field, but Kelly has done a lot with less talent than he has now.

A decent season should have LSU in a good position to run the state in 2024.

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2023 Recruiting Profile: Can Florida make late push for 5-star OT Samson Okunlola?

After missing out on most of the high-profile in-state offensive tackles, can Florida land this elite OT from the northeast?

When Billy Napier and his staff touched base with five-star offensive tackle [autotag]Samson Okunlola[/autotag] in February, the Gators were prioritizing in-state targets at the position such as [autotag]Payton Kirkland[/autotag] (Oklahoma), [autotag]Francis Mauigoa[/autotag] (Miami) and [autotag]Tommy Kinsler[/autotag] (flipped from Florida to Miami). All three of them landed elsewhere, and now Florida’s best shot at landing a blue-chip tackle might the top-20 recruit from out-of-state.

Okunlola is a big 6-foot-5-inch, 305-pounder out of Thayer Academy in Brockton, Massachusetts. He’s the kind of prep player that’s never truly been on a field of athletes that can match up to his size, and his ability has him ranked in the top 15 by most services. That’s top 15 in the class of 2023, not just at his position.

Of course, a talent like that comes with fierce competition, and the favorite to land him is the same school that’s been dominating the recruiting trail for the past couple of weeks —  Miami. The Hurricanes are a 95.3% favorite according to the On3 recruiting prediction machine, and the experts at 247Sports have also cast crystal balls in UM’s favor.

Alabama, Miami and Michigan State are the three schools that have hosted him on official visits so far, and he’s named six other schools to a top nine that he can pick from for his final two visits. Florida is one of those six schools and needs to get the official visit to make a late push.

There’s certainly a need at the position for Florida, and it would be easy to promise early playing time to a player of his caliber. Of the top 15 offensive tackles in the class, Okunlola is the highest rated at 14th overall on the 247Sports composite. [autotag]Zalance Heard[/autotag] and [autotag]Monroe Freeling[/autotag] are around the No. 60 mark and also options for the Gators.

Florida football to host top-100 OL on first recruiting visit

Billy Napier is looking at one of the top offensive linemen recruits out of Louisiana as he tries to put together the class of 2023.

After Florida missed out on four-star offensive tackle [autotag]Payton Kirkland[/autotag] on July 23, Billy Napier and his recruiting staff shifted to another blue-chip target on the offensive line, four-star tackle [autotag]Zalance Heard[/autotag] out of Neville High in Monroe, Louisiana.

Of course, Napier’s ties to the state of Louisiana are well known. He just left ULL after four years at the helm for the Ragin’ Cajuns, and local prep players are bound to have a favorable opinion of him. Mix in the fact that Napier has brought some of his former staffers along with him, and Florida is more than a reasonable threat to poach a kid out of the Bayou State.

Heard is the perfect candidate for Florida to go after. So far, LSU, Texas and Nebraska are viewed as the major players in the race for his services. Blake Alderman of 247Sports confirmed that Heard will make his way to Florida on Wednesday, July 27, for his first-ever trip to the Swamp. FSU will also get him this week, so he’s clearly opening the door for the Florida teams to join the fray.

On3’s recruiting prediction machine has the Tigers as 97.7% favorites to land Heard when all is said and done. A decision is expected ahead of his senior year, so Napier and Co. will have to move fast to pull it off.

Heard is ranked at No. 13 overall by On3’s individual rankings and is a five-star recruit according to the service. The On3 consensus, which weights all four major services’ individual rankings evenly, has him at No. 52 overall and No. 5 among offensive tackles. The 247Sports composite has him at No. 60 nationally and No. 7 at his position.

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Louisiana prospect, top LSU target receives 5th star from On3

Zalance Heard continues to shoot up the rankings.

One of the top recruits in Louisiana was given a bump by On3 this week.

According to On3’s rankings, offensive tackle [autotag]Zalance Heard[/autotag] is now a five-star and the 13th-best player in the country. They rate him as the third-best offensive tackle in the class and the second-best player in Louisiana.

On3’s NFL comparison to Heard is Ronnie Stanley, who was the sixth overall pick in 2016.

Heard is a must-get for LSU. Over the years, Louisiana hasn’t always produced a well of talent along the offensive line. The 2023 class will be the second consecutive year the Tigers have had talent on the OL in-state.

If LSU lands Heard one year after landing [autotag]Will Campbell[/autotag], the Tigers would be working with a solid foundation up front. That’s not something LSU has had much of in recent years.

Coincidentally, Heard and Campbell both came from Neville High School in Monroe. Former LSU star [autotag]Rashard Lawrence[/autotag] is a Neville alumnus, as well.

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Tigers extend offer to promising 2023 OT from Louisiana

Tigers extended an offer to 2023 four-star offensive tackle Zalance Heard on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the Tigers coaching staff extended an offer to 2023 offensive tackle Zalance Heard. Heard hauls from the same high school that Enyce Sledge once played for: Neville High School.

Heard is regarded as a four-star according to 247Sports’ recruiting rankings. He is listed at 6-foot-5 and 300 pounds. The Louisiana native has quite the offers thus far. Other programs like LSU, Nebraska, Michigan, Texas, and USC have all offered Heard to this point. Most recently, he took a visit to Nebraska on June 10th.

The Tigers have quite the offensive line commit in four-star interior offensive lineman Bradyn Joiner. However, that isn’t enough for Coach Harsin and the rest of the coaching staff. With several offensive linemen graduating, the staff has prioritized recruiting offensive linemen. More specifically, the offensive tackle position.

Heard possesses great size and could make an immediate impact on the Tigers’ offensive line. Offensive line coach [autotag]Will Friend[/autotag] is pushing to improve his unit this season. Last season, the Tigers were more effective at run blocking than they were in pass protection. If a prospect like Heard chooses the Tigers, it could instantly change the trajectory of the future on the Plains. The Tigers will more than likely have to battle the LSU for his recruitment. It will be interesting to see how his recruitment unfolds in the coming months.

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