The LSU Tigers were not able to land a legacy star in No. 1 player Marcus Spears Jr.
If the LSU Tigers were to land the No. 1 player in the country any time soon, their best chance just went by as Marcus Spears Jr. re-classified to the 2026 class and committed to the Texas Longhorns on Thursday.
It did feel as though it was a long shot that Will Wade and his staff hadn't put many resources into, the Tigers were also mentioned as a potential landing spot and his father has a massive presence in the schools' athletics to this day.
Marcus Spears, his father, was a defensive lineman for LSU in the early 2000s, and was a true star. He was an All-America and won a National Championship. He went on to have a nice NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys. Now, he is one of the top commentators for ESPN.
His mother, Aiysha Smith, also played basketball for the Tigers in the early 2000s and was a first-round pick in the WNBA. The pathway to Baton Rouge was as clear as possible for Spears Jr., but it won'y come to fruition.
Spears Jr. was, until Thursday, the No. 1 player in the 2027 recruiting class. He is a 6-foot-9 forward. 247Sports now has him ranked as the No. 6 player in this class.
It makes sense that LSU hasn't been able to be too in on him, given his reclassification. Wade has had to build out his entire roster from the ground up and simply might not have had the time or resources to grab a player of his level while also filling out the rest of his team. The idea will be for the Tigers to eventually be competitive and able to go after big fish recruits in basketball at some point in the future.
