2015 Names To Watch: Keisean Lucier-South Comment Count

Brandon Brown

Keisean Lucier-South

Position: Defensive End

Ht/Wt: 6'6" / 215 lbs.

Location: Lutheran High School – Orange, CA

Offers: Arizona, Boise State, California, Colorado, Miami (FL), Oregon, Oregon State, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, UCLA, USC, Vanderbilt, Washington

It’s pretty clear that Plan A for the coaches at defensive end in the 2015 class is Jashon Cornell out of Cretin-Derham Hall, unfortunately CDH has traditionally been a Notre Dame pipeline and many believe that’s where Cornell will end up. Michigan has offered two other defensive ends in the 2015 class, Anthony Wheeler out of Texas and Terry Beckner Jr. from Illinois. Neither of them are being recruited as hard as Cornell is by the Wolverine coaching staff and it’s safe to say they are far from being Michigan leans. In fact, I exchanged a few texts with Wheeler and he informed me that he hasn’t been in contact with the coaches in a long time and has virtually no interest in Michigan at this point in time. That being said Keisean Lucier-South is a young man that if offered could be considered a Michigan lean.

Lucier-South hails from California and as evidenced by his offer list is quite a talent. He has that long, athletic body type that scouts drool over at defensive end in terms of potential. Lucier-South has been compared to long-time NFL star Jason Taylor because of his length and athleticism. He stars on the gridiron and the basketball court, yet another testament to his versatility and coordination.

He told me that his recruitment is really starting to pick up lately in terms of mail and flyers being constantly sent to his house with Arizona and Texas sending him the most. He ranked Michigan at about 4th when it came to pieces of mail being sent to him but he puts Michigan atop his list of who he wants an offer from. I congratulated him on his USC offer at the end of August and he said that while it was an honor to receive the offer from the Trojans, one from Michigan would “just be more insane” with a laugh. In fact, when I asked him which schools he’d like to receive an offer from he answered, “Just Michigan.”

For a California kid his interest and knowledge in Michigan was quite impressive as well. He rattled this off like he grew up somewhere in the middle of the mitten. “Michigan is just amazing and some of the best talent goes there to play football. I know that Michigan has the most wins in college football, their main rival is Ohio State, and a lot of great players have played there like Tom Brady, Braylon Edwards, and Charles Woodson. They also have the largest stadium in the country. Honestly I don’t really have a favorite, but Michigan would be high high if they offered.”

Keisean doesn’t plan on committing until sometime during his senior season so there is still plenty of time for the Wolverines to evaluate him to see if he is worthy of an offer. When you watch his highlight tape his athleticism is undeniable and his frame could easily add 50 lbs. in college, but with the 2015 class more than likely being on the small side, and already containing several members, the coaches will have to be picky moving forward with offers.

Comments

WolvinLA2

September 17th, 2013 at 11:07 AM ^

I don't think he would redshirt, at least not because of size.  Every WDE we have (including Marshall) weighed about as much as KLS at the same point.  Frank Clark was 210 as a senior  - no RS.  Now, he might redshirt simply because we have a ton of WDE ahead of him.  That said, looking at his frame I bet he's 245 by his HS graduation.  

Though I agree with you on the boat shoes.  Every man should own a pair of Sperry's.

WolvinLA2

September 17th, 2013 at 5:20 PM ^

I hope you're kidding, because that was useless. Most of it was about chicks anyway.

I hope on some summer afternoon when your feet are all hot and sweaty you're thinking to yourself "I'd be more comfortable in sandals, except that buzzfeed writer told me not to."

I need a better reason than, "if you walk through a ton of mud, your feet with get muddy."

Bigku22

September 17th, 2013 at 8:56 AM ^

I know we are limited on scholarships, but we need as much defensive line talent as we can get. Even if Hand and McDowell sign, Cornell is by no means a lock and this kid has the frame to develop into a premier pass rusher.

Cali Wolverine

September 17th, 2013 at 8:59 AM ^

...USC is not going to be down for long and Michigan needs to take advantage of that...yes the UCLA program is on an upswing...but playing football at UCLA is not in the same league as a Michigan or USC.

Space Coyote

September 17th, 2013 at 9:03 AM ^

Is they are likely looking to see him get bigger. It's fairly easy to be quick at 6'6 210 lbs. But he has a long, lean frame. How will he be when he's 260-270, if not bigger. Does he grow into a SDE? Does he lose his explosiveness? So it's likely that's what Michigan is evaluating right now. It's early yet, so they'd probably like to see him grow to 230-240 to see where he stands and then make a decision on him if they have that kind of time.

Kfojames

September 17th, 2013 at 9:21 AM ^

That is the key there. There is such a premium put on these kids to add weight, but there is a big difference between just adding bulk and getting stronger. Take Hand for example, he's already at 250 and I think his main goal would be to get "stronger" while not compromising his speed and athletic ability. I have a feeling Frank Clark may be a victim of this in that he's put on too much weight on a 6'1"/6'2" frame that he's lost some explosiveness for a rush end. Now I'm saying this in regards to a kid who is being looked at for the rush end only. By all means if a kid can stack muscle on and still retain the speed and athleticism he started with go for it. But up till now I think some of the guys on the current roster may be carrying a few extra unwanted pounds. That and I feel like Mattison said it a couple weeks ago is that you have to recruit that athletic rush end. You still have to have the ability. Maybe Taco will emerge as that guy. Look back in history with especially Lloyd and he would often transform an inside backer to a rush end ala Lamarr Woodley. That gives you a sense of what kind of athlete it takes to be a force at the position.

Magnus

September 17th, 2013 at 11:29 AM ^

I don't think speed/quickness is the issue. He looks good on slants, twists, etc. He needs to work on his outside speed rush and his bull rush. He does look like a different player than the one who picked off the pass in the Sugar Bowl, but that's not really a bad thing.

Space Coyote

September 17th, 2013 at 10:33 AM ^

I mean, I think the move is helping with Cornell. It's also a really long ways from signing day for this class. I wouldn't worry about it until really next spring. Then you have to start worrying a little bit about things slipping away. But as long as the coaches are honest with the situation and what they are looking for out of it, I think they are alright for another 6 to 9 months or so.

Bodogblog

September 17th, 2013 at 9:18 AM ^

Hey Brandon, has there been any fall-out from the ESPN game on Cornell?  I saw a few posts that day on his play, and tuned in to watch for a little while - he didn't look dominant.  I know it's a failing of amateurs like myself to expect 5* players to destroy Tokyo on every play against HS competition, but he didn't look great (at least in the portion of the game that I saw).

Has there been any talk of that in the recruiting world

Brandon Brown

September 17th, 2013 at 10:22 AM ^

And my thoughts are the same as yours. It's only one game obviously but he didn't jump off the screen like you'd expect a #1 player to. I haven't heard any widespread talk about him in a negative way or anything like that, but honestly I haven't really looked for it either.

True Blue Grit

September 17th, 2013 at 10:10 AM ^

talent.  Seems strange Michigan hasn't offered yet.  But as others have posted, his size could be an issue.  It seems with two more high school years, he should easily be able to put 20-25 pounds on.  It also seems like we wouldn't want to put all our tickets into the Cornell sweepstakes.  This kid seems like a great 2nd option.