You cannot win them all... When it came to the recruitment of four-star edge rusher KJ Green out of Stone Mountain, Georgia, the Stephenson standout decided against Committing to The G. With how strong of a recruiting base as Georgia has, losing one player out-of-state is normally not the end of the world for Kirby Smart and his program. However, Green choosing another one is not landing well...
Heading into this stage of his recruitment, Green was tasked with picking between these four teams.
- Georgia Bulldogs
- LSU Tigers
- Oregon Ducks
- South Carolina Gamecocks
Leave it up to Hayes Fawcett of On3/Rivals to break the news that Green is calling Baton Rouge now.
BREAKING: Elite 2027 EDGE KJ Green has Committed to LSU, he tells me for @Rivals
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) June 7, 2026
The 6’4 230 EDGE chose the Tigers over South Carolina, Georgia, and Oregon
“All aboard the Lane Train, Geaux Tigers🐯🚂”https://t.co/RxxYGfoEq5 pic.twitter.com/Y7nMdGb1eN
According to the 247Sports Composite, Green is the No. 6 player from Georgia, the No. 10 edge rusher in his class, and the No. 74 overall prospect in the 2027 cycle. Prior to committing to LSU on Sunday afternoon, Green had made three of his five official visits. He had been to Georgia first on May 15 and Oregon on May 29 before picking the Tigers after his visit to Baton Rouge on June 5.
The allure of Lane Kiffin is still strong, but we have to wonder what the break down at Georgia was...
Georgia, Kirby Smart miss out on 4-star KJ Green's commitment to LSU
While Georgia may have its focus elsewhere after a big recruiting weekend, it is never a good thing to have a top-100 player in-state choose to go play somewhere else. The fact it is for a new-look LSU team cannot be landing well. With Green having made two visits prior to the one in Baton Rouge, including one to Athens, it does not look like it was a decision made on a whim by this top prospect.
Georgia competing with another team with a national recruiting strategy like Oregon is one thing. Duking it out with South Carolina in a bit of a border war is another one. With LSU coming back to power under Kiffin, that is an entirely different game... Keep in mind while he may be the portal king, one of his best friends is back in Baton Rouge recruiting his tail off in the one and only Ed Orgeron...
What this may tell us is LSU may be more of a player for top-flight recruits under Kiffin far earlier than expected. He may have his warts coming over from Ole Miss, but there has never been a doubt about how strong of a head coach he can be. Kiffin may be too mercurial for his own good, but his ace-in-the-hole recruiter Orgeron can get into living rooms he may not have been allowed to go into before.
Read more: Florida's cheap NIL strategy couldn't keep one Gator commit from visiting Georgia
Overall, this just goes to show how bad of a fit Brian Kelly was in Baton Rouge. Not only could he not get the best players in-state on lock down, but the Tigers were not really a threat to poach top-tier talent out-of-state all that much. With Kiffin adding Orgeron to his staff, this changes the calculus just a bit. LSU still has to win games on the field, but these key wins are stacking up on the recruiting trail.
Smart and his staff have time to counter with something else, but this one has to sting just a little bit.
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