National Signing Day is tomorrow and for college football junkies it means an introduction to the future of their favorite program.
On Monday, one more player is off the board as 4-star defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis of Monroe, La. made his commitment known. He was choosing between home-state LSU, Alabama, and TCU.
That’s not the hook for the story though. He took his announcement to the cemetery to help honor a friend that passed away after breaking his neck covering a punt back in 2015.
Mathis held up a framed picture collage of his friend, Tyrell Cameron, who was playing for Franklin Parish High School at the time:
Phidarian Mathis sitting behind a picture collage of Tyrell Cameron. pic.twitter.com/FwhMObs7ug
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) January 31, 2017
That’s fantastic, despite the inherent tragedy of the story.
As for the actual commitment, Mathis made the richest of 2017 recruiting classes even richer. He chose Alabama and in the process had some pretty harsh words as to why he didn’t stay home and play for the Bayou Bengals.
Full quote from Phidarian Mathis on his non-relationship with #LSU DL coach Pete Jenkins pic.twitter.com/tsf1n9qxcp
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) January 31, 2017
Safe to say, if you want a player to play for you, giving him a single phone call is a good idea. Maybe shoot him a text, or whatever else is allowed via NCAA rules. Come on now LSU coaching staff, you can’t have that in the rough and tumble world of SEC recruiting.
What was apparently a large error on LSU’s part became a big gain for SEC West rival Alabama. (Literally, Phidarian is a big boy.)
Mathis is the No. 99 ranked player in the country according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, which compiles all recruiting rankings to give an accurate outlook on how the industry sees a player. He is also rated the No. 7 defensive tackle and the No. 4 player in the state of Louisiana.
His commitment to the Crimson Tide gives that program, which came in to the day with the No. 1 class in the country, a ridiculous 15 4-star players out of 25 committed recruits.
[CFT/photo Billy Embody]
