By Kyle Roberts
Ruston High’s senior cornerback Aidan Anding made his big reveal Saturday afternoon after a long recruiting process in front of family, friends coaches and teammates.
And Anding has chosen to stay in Louisiana and will play for the Louisiana State University Tigers.
“I actually finally made the decision on Tuesday of this past week,” Anding said. “I can make a name for myself being from Louisiana and staying home and getting developed by Coach (Corey) Raymond, the best cornerback coach in college football.”
Coming down to the final three choices were LSU, Arkansas and Texas, Anding made his big reveal by opening a bag of purple and gold balloons to the celebrating crown to make it official he was going to Baton Rouge.
Anding’s recruiting journey, without doubt, has been a high-speed whirlwind for the last 12 months. After not playing a down of varsity football before last season, Anding had a meteoric rise in his national profile. In fact, before he even played a down last year he was receiving interest from universities, including Louisiana Tech.
Ruston High head coach Jerrod Baugh praised Anding, his mother Candace, and Bearcat secondary coach Kenny Wright for how they handled his recruiting process.
“Aidan’s a really smart kid,” Baugh said. “Coach Wright was very familiar with the recruiting process, because he went through that and knew what it looked like. So I think (Anding) has leaned on him a bunch to help guide him through. Aidan’s mom did an excellent job. Once it started happening, they wanted to get on campuses and see, because she knows Aidan is a relationship guy. Her being willing to go and spend days at all these different places helped him decide what he wanted to do.
“He’s had people available to him (during this time). I’ve been here to answer his questions, and it’s not like I have all of the answers, but I try to find the people that do. Obviously, we’re all very proud of him.”
For Anding, Saturday was the day to end any speculation of his collegiate plans and for him to now turn his focus solely to the 2024 season.
“I feel a whole lot of relief now,” Anding said. “I can go into my senior year just focusing on my football career, work on my craft and get better for the season coming up. It’s been a blessing, overall. Sometimes, it’s been overwhelming, but at the end of the day, I did not have any bad options. I just wanted to choose the best option for me and whatever school I can get the most out of for football.”
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