One Tiger recruit left, 5 others consider change

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BATON ROUGE, La. -- The consequences of Nick Saban's decision to leave LSU to the Miami Dolphins may have a big impact on the Tigers' recruiting Class of 2005.

LSU's once budding class of 11 commitments has endured the loss of tight end Dajleon Farr of Galena Park, Texas to Miami, Fla., while as many as five others may follow suit.

Several other national prospects, including defensive back Bryan Evans of Jacksonville, Fla. and offensive lineman Michael Turkovich of Valley Forge (Pa.) Military Academy, indicated they were no longer considering LSU.

"I don't know what's going on," said Kevin Myers, an offensive tackle from Compton (Calif.) Community College and one of LSU's remaining 10 pledges. "I'm not going to jump to conclusions."

Myers, 6-foot-6, 340-pound, committed to LSU before his Dec. 3 official visit and planned to sign with the Tigers on Feb. 2 before learning of Saban's decision.

"I just knew it was going to happen," Myers said. "Every time I get something good going in my life, something always seems to happen. It was hard watching the news."

Myers, who was recruited by LSU assistant Derek Dooley, said he plans to honor his commitment if Dooley and LSU offensive line coach Stacey Searels are retained by the school's new head coach.

"I was going there because of the things they've been doing," said Myers, who has also visited Oklahoma State and is also considering Oregon and USC. "I don't know what's going on. I don't know anyone there anymore."

Former Port Barre All-State defensive back Chris Keys, who committed to LSU on March 9, said that he is now undecided and will make official visits to Alabama and LSU in January.

"Those are my top two," Keys said. "I'm not going to make a decision until after making those visits. A lot of it will have to do with my family members. After that I'll know for sure."

Keys attended North Jackson High in Stevenson, Ala. after he was expelled April 28 from Port Barre High for an on-campus arrest for possession of marijuana. Keys said that he developed a greater admiration for Saban who never revoked his scholarship offer throughout his ordeal.

"Coach Saban wasn't only the head coach, but he was the defensive backs coach as well," Keys said. "When I was there in the summer (camp) he was the coach that worked with me. He's a great coach. Then when I got into trouble he tried to help me and supported me so that I could get my life on the right track. When he left that's when I started thinking about Alabama."

Current LSU commitments defensive lineman Al Jones of New Orleans-St. Augustine, offensive lineman Ciron Black of Tyler, Texas, and tight end Kyle Anderson of The Woodlands, Texas, have all indicated they intend to take official visits in January before rendering a final decision.

Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press

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