Recruiting: LSU hosts top 2024 recruits Danny Okoye, Terry Bussey on Arkansas game weekend

The upcoming weekend when LSU plays against Arkansas, the Tigers will be hosting two 2024 key prospects – Danny Okoye and Terry Bussey.

Okoye, a coveted edge rusher from Tulsa, Oklahoma, arrives Friday. The 6-foot-4, 240 pounder had 16 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks and one interception last season. During his sophomore campaign in 2021, he tallied 21 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and returned a punt for a touchdown.

Tiger assistants Frank Wilson and John Jancek are handling the recruiting duties with Okoye. LSU is currently trailing Oklahoma by a wide margin, but the impact of his upcoming official visit could impact his overall decision.

Bussey, a five-star athlete out of Timpson, Texas, has Texas A&M as his current leader.

As a dual threat quarterback last year, he passed for 2,177 yards with 26 scores, completing 64.7 % of his tosses., He also ran for 2,596 yards and 46 touchdowns, averaging a staggering 14.1 yards per carry.

As a defensive back, the 5-11, 180-poun Bussey tacked on 115 tackles and five interceptions, four of those returned for touchdowns. For good measure, he returned three kickoffs and one punt for scores. Kerry Cooks and Sherman Wilson are handling the recruiting duties for the Tigers.

Bussey has visited Texas A&M (Sept. 16), Alabama (Sept. 8), Texas (June 23), Oklahoma (June 17), Auburn (April 16) and Tennessee (April 14). He was tabbed Texas Mr. Football by Dave Campbell’s magazine.

Not only excellent on the gridiron, Bussey also finds time to shine in baseball, basketball and track. He captured the Texas Class 2A state title in the Triple Jump competition with a leap of 45’10”.

Assumed to be a wide receiver in college, Bussey is electric with the ball in his hands. He arrives to campus Saturday. Bussey plans on making his decision in late October or early November.

JUJUAN YOU WANT

In 1995, Gerry DiNardo arrived in Baton Rouge to assume the head coaching position at LSU. He vowed at that time to lock up the state’s top football player, Carencro’s Kevin Faulk, who was named to the USA Today and Parade High School All American teams.

The circumstances were quite different with the program’s success over the past decades but there was a similar situation when Brian Kelly successfully flipped JuJuan Johnson of Lafayette Christian Academy from his Colorado commitment.

Johnson is a very special prospect. He started five contests as a freshman at LCA and fully took over the reins at quarterback in 2021 as a sophomore, throwing for 2,560 yards and 29 scores while winning a state title.

Last season, Johnson passed for 4,140 yards and 43 touchdowns while running for additional 1,347 yards and 17 scores. In the state semifinals last season against Teurlings Catholic, he scored nine times and accounted for 668 yards.

To open the ’23 campaign, the 5-foot-11, 188-pound Johnson scored eight touchdowns against powerful Acadiana, leading his team to an impressive 61-38 win.

In his game against Jesuit last Friday, Johnson scored seven total touchdowns, passing for 188 yards and running for 269 mores in a 51-18 romp over the Blue Jays.

If he maintains his current pace, Johnson is a shoe-in for the major state Player of the Year honors. He also could challenge former Evangel Christian quarterback Brock Berlin’s state all-time record of 13,659 total yards for his career.

Although slated to play cornerback in college, Johnson is skilled enough to affect a game with the ball in his hands in some fashion. It’s easy to see why Deion Sanders coveted him, envisioning him drawing comparisons to current Buffaloes two-way star Travis Hunter.