LSU let Brandon Sampson out of their back yard, but they weren’t going to let it happen twice.
Sampson, who hails from Baton Rouge, pledged to the Tigers on Monday morning. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard, who is ranked No. 41 in the country, according to Rivals, was originally committed to St. John’s, but he reopened his recruitment after Steve Lavin was dismissed by the university.
“Brandon Sampson is a big grab for LSU and head coach Johnny Jones,” NBCSports.com recruiting analyst Scott Phillips said. “It shows that they’re parlaying a one-and-done talent in Ben Simmons by putting multiple top-100 talents around him that will likely stay for a few years. Sampson’s ability to score in bunches can help the Tigers immediately, even if he is coming off of the bench next season.”
Sampson joins an already loaded recruiting class for the Tigers. Ben Simmons, the No. 1 player in the country, will be joining the Tigers next season as well as Antonio Blakeney, a talented scoring guard that played for the same AAU team as Simmons. Arizona transfer Craig Victor, a former top 50 recruit, will be eligible in mid-December, and that quartet will be joining a roster that already includes Tim Quarterman, Keith Hornsby and Josh Gray.
This will be the year for Johnny Jones, which is ironic given the fact that last year was supposed to be the year.
He’s got a talented supporting cast surrounding a future lottery pick. If he can’t win with this team, will he ever win at LSU?