LSU Signs No. 1 Player in Louisiana Dominick McKinley
LSU football has signed five-star defensive lineman Dominick McKinley after the No. 1 player in Louisiana revealed his commitment to the Tigers on New Year's Eve.
McKinley, a coveted defensive tackle from the Bayou State, has now put pen to paper on National Signing Day and will join the LSU program this summer.
Brian Kelly and Co. successfully flipped the top prospect from The Boot after he backed off of his pledge to Texas A&M in December.
McKinley became one of four Aggies to reveal their decision to switch their commitments to LSU, joining five-star OL Weston Davis, four-star DL Gabriel Reliford and Coen Echols.
Now, LSU has reeled in their defensive lineman of the future with McKinley making it official with the Bayou Bengals on Wednesday.
Kelly's staff has done the dirty work in the trenches this offseason after adding much-needed depth to the defensive line with both McKinley and Reliford.
After bringing in Bo Davis to handle defensive line duties, he now has an assortment of talent to work with for the foreseeable future.
On the other side of the ball, Brad Davis has done it again with LSU's offensive line.
It started with talented players such as Ethan Calloway and Joseph Cryer and ended with another five-star in the mix with Weston Davis revealing his commitment.
Now, the 2024 class is complete with five-star Dominick McKinley making it official on National Signing Day.
Despite the Tigers missing on five-star Terry Bussey on Wednesday, LSU pulled away four Texas A&M commitments over the last few months.
The Tigers end the 2024 cycle with 28 high school signees and one JUCO signee in coveted DL Shone Washington.
A dive into the other Texas A&M flips:
Dominick McKinley: 5-Star DL
Rated the top player in Louisiana for the Class of 2024 and a consensus 5-star defensive lineman … Ranked No. 13 nationally overall in the On3 composite and as the No. 3 player at his position … Ranked as high as No. 12 overall nationally by Rivals.com and No. 2 at his position by Rivals.com and ESPN … Prepped at Acadiana High School in Lafayette, leading the Rams to the Division I Select State Championship Game in 2023 … First-Team 5A All-State as a senior after recording 71 tackles, 15 quarterback hurries, 11 tackles for loss … Helped team to an 11-3 mark in 2023 … As a junior in 2022, racked up 86 tackles to go along with 18 tackles for loss and 10 sacks … Coached by Matt McCullough.
Weston Davis: 5-Star OL
Two-sport standout at Beaumont (Texas) United and one of the nation’s top offensive line prospects … Ranked with 5-stars from On3 and 4-stars by ESPN, Rivals and 247Sports … Listed as a 4-star and No. 64 nationally in the On3 composite … In the On3 composite, ranked as the nation’s No. 5 offensive tackle prospect and No. 11 overall in Texas … Ranked as high as No. 3 nationally at his position by On3 and as the No. 5 player overall in Texas … Named First-Team Beaumont Enterprise Super Gold as a junior in 2022 … Team averaged 4.1 yards per carry in 2023 … Also a standout basketball player for one of the top prep programs in Texas … Still relatively new to football as he didn’t start playing until his sophomore season of high school.
Gabriel Reliford: 4-star DL
Defensive line prospect who is considered one of the best at his position in the Class of 2024 … Rated with 4-stars in the On3 composite … Ranked as high as No. 7 nationally and No. 4 overall in Louisiana by On3 … Composite national ranking of No. 23 at his position and No. 6 overall in Louisiana … Tallied 251 tackles and 15 sacks over the span of junior and senior seasons … As a junior, racked up 129 tackles, 27 tackles for loss and 6 sacks … Followed that with 122 tackles, 29 tackles for loss, 9 sacks, 21 QB hurries and a fumble recovery as a senior in 2023 … Capped career with 17 tackles vs. Shaw in the quarterfinals of the state playoffs … Comes from same school that produced former LSU standouts in Jacob Hester, Micah Baskerville and Jarrick Bernard-Converse.
