How former Arizona State QB Sam Leavitt fits with LSU football
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BATON ROUGE ― Lane Kiffin has finally found his first starting quarterback for LSU football.
Arizona State transfer quarterback Sam Leavitt has committed to play for the Tigers, per multiple reports Monday.
Sources told The Daily Advertiser Monday morning that things were trending towards LSU landing the highly sought-after transfer. Leavitt visited LSU late last week. While in Baton Rouge, he attended a men’s basketball coach and sat courtside with Kiffin and Florida transfer wide receiver Eugene Wilson.
At Arizona State, Leavitt helped lead the Sun Devils to their first and only College Football Playoff berth two seasons ago. He threw for 4,513 yards, 34 touchdowns with nine interceptions. Leavitt also added 749 yards and 10 scores rushing.
Why Sam Leavitt picked LSU football out of transfer portal
Truthfully, Leavitt had some great options for his next stop in college. He was down to LSU, Tennessee and Miami, and it’s believed that his final two choices were LSU and Miami.
Kiffin was noticeably and publicly all-in on Leavitt, and it appears that ultimately is what won out in the end. No other team recruited him harder out of the transfer portal and the quarterback wanted to go where he was wanted.
How Sam Leavitt will fit LSU football’s roster
Leavitt is LSU’s next starting quarterback. Shortly after this transfer portal window opened, Kiffin and his offensive staff were without a scholarship quarterback as former LSU QB Michael Van Buren decided to leave the team and enter his name into the portal.
Among the signal callers in the portal, there were few that were better fits for Kiffin and offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr.’s system than Leavitt. The thing that’ll be interesting to watch if he’s able to practice at all during the spring. He suffered a Lisfranc foot injury last September and had surgery in November so it’s unclear where he’ll be in his rehab timeline by the time spring drills rolls around.
LSU football transfer targets
- USC quarterback Husan Longstreet
- Alabama offensive lineman Micah DeBose
- North Carolina State wide receiver Terrell Anderson
- California-Davis running back Carter Vargas
- McNeese State cornerback Javon Davis
When does transfer portal close?
The NCAA transfer portal window closes Jan. 16. Players cannot enter their name in the portal following that date, but those whose name is already in the transfer portal can still decide and sign with a new school after Jan. 16.
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Sam Leavitt transfer portal, how LSU football landed him, how he fits
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