2015 Names To Watch: 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.
September 17th, 2013 at 8:24 AM ^
Thanks coach Brown. This kid seems to fit "The Pattern" and would be a solid pick-up.
September 17th, 2013 at 8:28 AM ^
Thanks Mr. Brown. This kid has the body type but he better be eating meat, potatos, and 100 peanut butter sandwiches every day.
September 17th, 2013 at 8:45 AM ^
My personal opinion: Brandon Brown wears boat shoes.
Call it a gut feeling.
September 17th, 2013 at 8:51 AM ^
nothing wrong with boat shoes.
But this kid has a cool name. Outside of that, looks like he needs some developing (body-wise) before Michigan offers. Is skinny DL, will Redshirt.
September 17th, 2013 at 12:57 PM ^
Where do I sign up for the battleship shoes?!
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.
September 17th, 2013 at 10:08 AM ^
Boat shoes are a must.
September 17th, 2013 at 11:10 AM ^
Got some croakies too?
September 17th, 2013 at 12:28 PM ^
Definitely not.
September 17th, 2013 at 2:50 PM ^
September 17th, 2013 at 2:58 PM ^
If you're not wearing boat shoes you are missing out on the greatest shoe experience you can have. Shame on you for putting yourself in that position if you do, indeed, not wear boat shoes.
September 17th, 2013 at 3:48 PM ^
September 17th, 2013 at 3:52 PM ^
You've been in California for too long.
September 17th, 2013 at 3:54 PM ^
September 17th, 2013 at 5:20 PM ^
September 17th, 2013 at 9:44 PM ^
September 17th, 2013 at 9:59 PM ^
September 17th, 2013 at 8:56 AM ^
September 17th, 2013 at 8:59 AM ^
September 17th, 2013 at 10:46 AM ^
Of hitting areas with down power programs. Texas wouldn't be a horrible place to recruit right now either.
Of course in both locations you have Stanford and Texas A&M going past their historical norms and filling some of the slack.
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.
September 17th, 2013 at 9:21 AM ^
September 17th, 2013 at 9:23 AM ^
I think it's still about technique and doing his assignment. He looks pretty good getting off the ball and tracking people down. Looks bad at getting off blocks and varying rush moves. Needs to do better with his hands.
September 17th, 2013 at 9:49 AM ^
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.
September 17th, 2013 at 10:04 AM ^
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.
September 17th, 2013 at 10:45 AM ^
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
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.
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.
September 17th, 2013 at 10:25 AM ^
Lucier-South would be a hell of a 2nd option IMO. He's listed as a 5-star on scout and a high 4-star on every other recruiting site. He's definitely not an unknown and he already seems to like Michigan as much or more than his other high ranking schools of USC and UCLA, both who have offered.
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