LSU on the verge of losing Arik Gilbert, potentially to Georgia

LSU cannot afford to lose Arik Gilbert, a former Gatorade Player of the Year and five-star recruit.

Gilbert has 368 yards and two touchdowns on the season, but his involvement in the LSU offense symbolizes something far greater. Just one year after fielding perhaps the greatest college football team of the modern era, the Tigers have discovered that life after Joe Burrow isn’t so simple, after all. Gilbert, a prized recruit from the state of Georgia, is a product of Ed Orgeron’s recruiting prowess following such a memorable season. While the Tigers have always factored in on the recruiting trail, ranking near the top of the SEC most seasons, Orgeron has taken them to the next level.

Per Brody Miller, who covers LSU Tigers football for The Athletic, “Arik Gilbert is heavily considering leaving LSU and missed practice today…Gilbert has been homesick since he arrived, sources say, and LSU is currently fighting to keep him.”

The loss of even one five-star talent — and one who plays at a premium position — would send shockwaves around Baton Rouge. Gilbert heading back to his home state would pour salt in that open wound, but unfortunately for Orgeron it sounds like a possibility at this juncture.

Gilbert is already being linked to the Georgia Bulldogs, and rightly so

Gilbert took his final recruiting visit in Athens before committing to the LSU Tigers, but he’d already fallen in love with Baton Rouge at the time. Nonetheless, it was still tough for him to say no to Kirby Smart and Co.

“It was still really hard to say no to Georgia,” Gilbert said last year, per Jeff Sentell of DawgNation. “But I just think that I’m not really a good fit for the school.”

If Gilbert’s feelings have changed, and his sentimentality for playing close to home is real, then Georgia is an easy fit. Not only that, but he may be eligible to play next season assuming the one-time transfer exception is passed as expected in January or February.

The Marietta native was the No. 1 tight end in his class, and No. 10 overall recruit in the country per 247sports. Smart has rapidly proven himself as the only competition to Nick Saban in SEC recruiting, and you best believe he’ll try to make another loud statement in the nation’s top conference by convincing a rare in-state talent that left Georgia to come back home.

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