Corey Raymond gets the No. 1 corner in America
This is why you get Corey Raymond.
Five-star cornerback DJ Pickett announced on Wednesday at a ceremony at his high school that he would be attending LSU. Pickett picked the Tigers over Miami and Oregon.
BREAKING: Five-Star Plus+ CB DJ Pickett has Committed to LSU, he tells me for @on3recruits
The 6’4 180 CB from Zephyrhills, FL chose the Tigers over Oregon & Miami
Ranked as the No. 3 Recruit in ‘25 (No. 1 CB) per On3
“Tiger Nation, I’m home ”https://t.co/D7Mbdpn4o8 pic.twitter.com/sgpGkByT3B
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) July 17, 2024
“If you a DB and coach Raymond is at LSU, I feel like that’s the right place to be at”
LSU shocks Miami and Oregon to land 5⭐️ CB DJ Pickett
Full video: https://t.co/0mjzlBUgEx pic.twitter.com/tfhfx21332
— Josh Newberg (@josh_newberg) July 17, 2024
“If you a DB and Coach Raymond is at LSU I feel like that’s the right place to be at” Pickett said to On3’s Josh Newberg. “I’m coming to be the next great DB at LSU. We coming to win a national championship and I’m ready to take over.”
Pickett is a consensus five-star prospect among the four major recruiting services and the No. 6 overall player in On3’s composite rankings. He’s the No. 1 corner according to ESPN, Rivals and On3, while 247 “only” views him as the No. 3 corner.
Listed at 6’4” and 180 pounds, Pickett is built like the prototypical Raymond LSU DBs. He plays both ways for Zephyrhills (Florida) and last season he caught 52 passes for 1,033 yards and 15 touchdowns on offense, and on defense he was credited with 31 tackles and an interception. He also plays baseball, basketball, and runs track. He was the district champion in the 100, 200, 400 and the long jump.
Raymond has been recruiting Pickett dating back to when he was the DBs coach at Florida and Pickett recently said to On3 that his relationship with Raymond is “like no other.” However there were fears lately that Pickett would spurn LSU and go to Oregon and follow their “unlimited” NIL money but it appears the relationship with Raymond trumps whatever the Ducks had to offer, and now Pickett is one of the good guys.
The addition of Pickett pushes LSU back into the top-3 of the 2025 class rankings. The Tigers trail only Alabama and Ohio State but remember what we said about quality over quantity: the Tide and Buckeyes both have 23 commitments. LSU on the other hand currently has 17. Of LSU’s 17 commits, three five-stars (Pickett, Bryce Underwood, and Harlem Berry) and 12 four-stars.
I also need to mention that over the weekend LSU picked up another commitment from a defensive back, that being three-star safety Jhase Thomas out of Destrehan. Thomas picked LSU over Arkansas, Houston, and Texas Tech. Thomas is a top-20 recruit in the state of Louisiana and his father is former NFL cornerback Fred Thomas. Fred, if you’ll recall, played in the NFL for 12 seasons. He was a second round pick by the Seattle Seahawks and spent the first four years there, and his final eight were with the New Orleans Saints.