The last time that the LSU Tigers faced off against the Miami Hurricanes was way back in 2018. Looks like Brian Kelly’s Tigers would be in a tug-of-war with Mario Cristobal’s Hurricanes. This time it’s not about the scoreboard, since they would not be facing each other this time. Then who is it for? The 5-star LSU cornerback commit DJ Pickett. But no matter how much they try, Miami will still be on the back foot in the recruiting race as Pickett leaves Cristobal hanging with a bold move. With this comes forward the reason why the LSU commit did not turn up on the Hurricanes’ big day. 

As days pass by, the suspense grows to be stronger surrounding Pickett’s commitment. This was thus taken up by On3 Recruits analyst Josh Newberg on the podcast who came with an important question for team and recruiting writer Izubee Charles, “About four or five weeks from national Signing Day is there any word on whether or not DJ Pickett is going to be back in Miami before Signing Day?”

Well, you may like it or not, but things do not look good for Cristobal’s squad. The writer shared some insights, “Yeah, so last time we spoke with his father Damien, he said they were trying to make it out to this weekend.” To top it up, the writer highlighted how he’s not at all hopeful about Pickett’s chance to flip to Hurricanes because “we know LSU is where he’s committed to right now and the Hurricanes are trying a lot to flip him and keep him in state but if they don’t get him back on campus, I think that’s going to be a real tough task.” But if the commit is so sure about Kelly and his program, why are they threatened about Cristobal’s army taking him away?  

Well, Miami has the advantage of having a soft corner in Pickett’s heart since he has family connections, as his cousin Booker Pickett Jr. is playing for the Hurricanes. Sadly, that’s not going to save them in the long run, as Pickett is a man of his word. 

DJ Pickett’s social media tease amidst the recruitment race

No matter how hard others try to woo Pickett, he seems to be mentally already in Kelly’s program. On October 27, Sunday, the CB posted a story on his IG story that read “FLORIDA→LOUISIANA.” Below that, there was a timer that showed a countdown of 2 months, 13 days, and 3 hours. This shows how eager Pickett is to don the Tigers jersey. When he had committed to the Tigers, he had also explained the exact reason behind his inclination towards LSU. 

He started on a diplomatic note and later arrived at the main reason, “All of the schools (hats) on this table are good schools. They all make me feel comfortable. I see myself there [LSU]. They just have the resources that I like. If you a DB and (secondary) coach Corey Raymond’s at LSU, I feel that’s the place to be at.” Was that the reason why he refused to pay a visit during Miami’s matchup against Florida State for which he had to take a trip to Coral Gables?

Well, as per the findings, DJ Pickett changed his plans because “He was late subtraction from that big visitor list. DJ wanted to be a high school kid this weekend. It was his senior homecoming. He didn’t want to miss that out.” But aren’t the fans intelligent enough to get his real intentions behind skipping the visit?