Breaking down LSU & Tennessee's dominance on the recruiting trail

The LSU Tigers have been riding the high of their eighth national championship into the fall with a fantastic recruiting class for 2026 and 2027.

Where do we even begin? Top player after top player has been setting up the future in Baton Rouge with their announcements.

Starting off late this summer, top left-handed pitcher in the Louisiana class of 2026 Bradyn Cupit committed to LSU. Cupit has a fastball-slider-changeup mix with above-average spin rates in the first two pitches.

On the national stage, the Tigers added another southpaw in No. 15 left-handed pitcher in the nation in Braxton Beaty. Beaty topped out at 93 miles per hour for his fastball in an event with Area Code Baseball over the summer.

On August 12, seven of LSU’s commits (at the time) played in the 2025 MLB High School All-American Game.

The Tigers also inked the top outfielder in the national class of 2027 in Jordin Griffin, who has been committed since 2023.

The high-ranking class gets even better as outfielder Anthony Murphy–the No. 3 player in the California class of 2026–was named to the USA Baseball 18U National Team on August 28.

The Tigers continued their search in the Golden State, earning a commitment from the top left-handed pitcher in the state and the No. 22 overall player in the national class of 2026 in Logan Schmidt.

Two-way player Koa Romero added to the 2027 recruiting class as the No. 5 player in Louisiana, per Perfect Game. Romero slugged for eight home runs and had 31 runs batted in during his sophomore season over the spring.

On September 13, the Tigers inked a top 100 player in the national class of 2027 in left-handed pitcher Kade Luker, who is also the eighth-ranked southpaw in the national class.

Devon Downs, a two-way player and the 107th overall prospect in the 2027 recruiting class who has been committed since 2022, made it official on September 14.

Lastly, the top southpaw in the Texas class of 2026 in Lucas Nawrocki committed to LSU last Tuesday. Nawrocki’s spin rate is up to 3,300 revolutions per minute with his breaking ball.

This isn’t even the full list of commits. For more commitment information check @Insidelsubsbl and @LSUbsbrecruit on X.

Tennessee has been hot on the Tigers’ tail in recruiting. Starting off with one of their more recent commits, 2027 shortstop Leo Nockley. Nockley is a lefty from Kingston, Pennsylvania and ranked as the No. 10 shortstop and No. 35 overall prospect according to Perfect Game.

The Volunteers also secured a commitment from the No. 1 recruit in the country in Dylan Seward. Seward is a switch-hitting shortstop from Eastvale, California and the top recruit in the class of 2027.

One of the top catchers in the 2027 class, Blake Lundy, also committed to Tennessee. Lundy is a Tennessee native.

On the pitching side, Tennessee brought in three top right handed pitchers in Gary Morse, Gannon Grant and Cade Allen. All three righties are in the class of 2026 and will be joined by 2027 commits Bubba Day, Brady Buenik and Quinn Fitzpatrick.

Nathan Johns is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jzn5275@psu.edu.

Bryan Portney is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email bep5295@psu.edu.