Jennifer Coney’s phone rang in the middle of the day, a call from her son Rashan Gary and she thought something was wrong.
"He never calls in the middle of visits, he only calls before he’s about to go to sleep,” Coney said. “The call in the middle of the day shocked me.”
Meanwhile, LSU had shocked the five-star Gary.
Out of Paramus (N.J. Catholic, the No. 1 recruit in the country according to 247Sports was on the Tigers campus for the first time at the end of July, and right in the middle of his fantastic experience he called his mother.
“I said is something wrong,” Coney said of when she answered the phone. “He said mom I really like LSU and I want you to come down.”
This past week Coney got to see what her son was talking about after a quickly scheduled trip.
“I had a great time at LSU,” Coney said. “We toured LSU. The facilities are phenomenal, especially these new condominium dorms, I want to live in them. Great dorms, they have a great academic plan for success, good coaching, good coaches, I met with their families.”
The coaches and their wives certainly impressed, but none perhaps more than Senior Associate AD Verge Ausberry.
“Mr Ausberry, great guy,” Coney said. “He didn’t even talk about football, he didn’t talk about LSU, he just talked to Rashan about life, how things go, this is how it really works Rashan. Things Mr. Ausberry talked about I’ve often said to Rashan but for it to come from him gave it validation. He was a great resource.”
No question Gary and his mother felt the love.
“There was a cheering section at the bottom of the stadium and we were at the top of the stadium and everyone cheered ‘
Rashan Gary commit to our school.’ It was really neat.”
Perhaps nobody made a bigger impression than Mike the Tiger.
“My favorite part was Mike the Tiger,” Coney laughed “I love animals. I just fell in love with Mike.”
Gary himself got to spend more time with the players including
Tashawn Bower who is from 10 minutes away from where he lives in New Jersey.
“I don’t think they were all there when he was there two weeks ago,” Coney said. “He was able to establish a good rapport with the players. He likes Coach (Ed) Orgeron.”
Coney does too and she really likes
Les Miles.
“Very down to earth, very approachable,” Coney said. “You can be yourself, met his wife, she was a sweetheart. He gave me his cell phone and office number and said call me if you have any questions. I like that. The head coach giving you his number, Coach (Gus) Malzahn said the same thing, here is my telephone number, call me if you have anything, so I don’t have to go through the d-line coach or defensive coordinator, I can contact the head coach directly. I like that.”