Top JUCO WR Marquis Montgomery Includes LSU in Final Five
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The future of LSU’s wide receiver room is in good hands, but could it get even stronger this offseason? The Tigers have already reeled in Louisiana native and Alabama transfer Aaron Anderson, but this program has their sights set on another elite wideout.
Their newest target: JUCO standout Marquis Montgomery.
Montgomery, who just wrapped up a stellar season at Snow College after a stint with Independence Community College, has received significant Power Five interest since the portal opened.
He revealed a top seven in early January that included Penn State, Texas A&M, Cal, Utah State, BYU, USF and Jackson State, but LSU and others made an immediate impact in his recruitment upon offering shortly after.
Montgomery revealed his final five schools on Saturday: LSU, Texas A&M, Cal, Oregon and Penn State.
The 6-foot-4, 205-pound wideout is rated as a Top-5 player at his position at the JUCO level and could certainly give the Tigers some additional depth moving forward.
In 2022, Montgomery totaled 13 receptions for 223 yards and three touchdowns on the season with a near 18 yards per catch average. Though the numbers may not jump off of the page, Snow runs a run-heavy style of offense, and the film on Montgomery doesn’t lie.
A physical, do-it-all receiver, he could add another element to this LSU wideout room that has seen an overhaul this offseason.
The Returnees: Malik Nabers, Brian Thomas Jr., Kyren Lacy, Chris Hilton and Landon Ibieta.
The Departures: Kayshon Boutte (NFL Draft), Jaray Jenkins (NFL Draft) and Jack Bech (transferred to TCU).
The High School Additions: Shelton Sampson Jr. (5-star), Jalen Brown (4-star), Kyle Parker (4-star) and Khai Prean (4-star).
Brian Kelly’s Transfer Portal Message:
“They have got to be the right fit first,” Kelly said. “They have to recognize the value of an education from LSU. They have to have the right traits. We are not just open for business. We’re not just putting a sign up saying, hey, we are going to take whoever. They have to be the right fit. I prefer that they are from the state of Louisiana if we can find them. And then we are going to address needs based upon how that freshman class marries into it by the particular needs by position class.
“So we are not going to overload a particular position group. In other words, if we have got three or four wide receivers that are freshmen coming in, you may not see a heavy influence in the portal in that position.
“We are going to develop based upon our freshman class, too. So we are doing this at the same time, and also allowing our program to be younger, too. We want to bring both of these along. We don’t always want to be a turn-it-over program where we are bringing in transfers and turning the program over.”
