In what will go down as one of the biggest recruiting wins of Brian Kelly’s career, LSU landed five-star defensive lineman Lamar Brown on Thursday afternoon.
Brown, a Baton Rouge, La., native who plays high school football about a mile away from Tiger Stadium at University Laboratory School, chose the Tigers over Texas A&M, Texas and Miami in a ceremony that aired on ESPN2. The Aggies appeared to be the favorites as recently as earlier this week, with coach Mike Elko looking to snag the No. 5 prospect in the 247Sports Composite out of Kelly’s backyard.
“It always started off with coach Kelly, eighth-, ninth-grade year. That was my first offer. He believed in me. Just the culture here, playing for Baton Rouge, playing for the state of Louisiana, it means a lot,” Brown said after making his announcement.
Brown had even previously canceled an official visit to LSU in mid-June, only to reschedule it a day later, raising questions about where the Tigers stood amid a process Brown called “stressful” for a 17-year-old.
Y’all don’t understand the lifestyle God blessed me with today. Not just only me but for recruits the recruiting process can be stressful because we can go ANYWHERE in the country. What I post does NOT BE FOR ATTENTION. I’m 17 years old and only get to experience this one time.💯
— Lamar Brown (@lamar1brown) June 16, 2025
However, LSU pulled through in the end, delivering Kelly his most significant in-state victory on the trail since taking the job in November 2021.
“I think LSU has done a great job recruiting him,” University Lab head coach Andy Martin said last month about where Brown’s recruitment stood. “They were the ones that gave him his first offer, so I think since his freshman year, they’ve been on him and have done a good job recruiting him.
“I think A&M (has done) a good job recruiting him. I think Texas came in a little late on him trying to get in and Miami’s kind of been there. But A&M and LSU have really been in there the entire time, and LSU’s really from the very beginning really recruited him hard.”
Brown is the second five-star player in the Tigers’ 2026 class, joining wide receiver Tristen Keys, and the eighth top-100 prospect among the 15 commitments.
The 6-foot-4, 290-pound Brown plays both ways at University Lab and allowed zero pressures and zero sacks in 120 snaps as an offensive tackle last season, though he projects as a defensive lineman in college. He also won a Louisiana Class 3A state championship in the shot put in 2024 and, most recently, a state championship for discus in May.
LSU now has six of the top seven in-state prospects committed in its class, as Brown joins fellow defensive lineman Richard Anderson, wide receiver Jabari Mack, safety Aiden Hall, offensive tackle Brysten Martinez and wide receiver Kenny Darby.
It will now be Kelly’s job to sign Brown, whom the Aggies and others would no doubt love to flip closer to the early signing period in December.
“I think he’s a really good kid. I think he’s got a very high football IQ. He’s one of the hardest workers,” Martin said. “He’s still got so much good football in front of him and he’s so versatile in what he can do. I think they’re getting a really good kid.”
(Photo of Brian Kelly: Stephen Lew / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
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