LSU Football: who is WR commit Emmanuel Netherly?

The LSU Football program has successfully recruited a very talented group of players in 2016. Among these is four-star wide receiver commit, Emmanuel Netherly.

Netherly spent his entire high school career playing both quarterback and wide receiver for Crosby High School. He is currently the #38 WR in the country, according to 247 sports. Earlier on, Netherly was committed to Texas A&M, but made the decision to decommit and become a Tiger instead in late June of this year.

I went one-on-one with the young WR on Wednesday to find out exactly what he will bring to Death Valley and to understand why he chose LSU when he was offered by so many prestigious programs.

“It’s different. LSU is really different. They treat everyone like family, it’s always a family deal out there. Every time I go down there, it feels like home. That’s why I love LSU”, he said.

A number of recruits chose the Tigers because they appreciated the individuals on the coaching staff, and their loyalty to the program wavered or died completely when changes were made to it. For Netherly, choosing the Tigers had nothing to do with who was calling plays on the sideline next year.

“I committed to the school and not the coaches. So, I fell in love with the school, not just one coach. LSU is going to be LSU, it doesn’t matter who’s there and who’s not there… I’ve met almost everybody. We’re all close. We all talk to each other… I’m mostly close with Austin Deculus, Kary Vincent… Houston guys”, Netherly said.

He also explained that he had a good relationship with pro-style quarterback Myles Brennan who re-committed himself to LSU on Thursday.

The star WR is very excited to be a member of the Tigers team, and is hoping to eventually take his talent to the highest level – the NFL. When I asked him who his role model was, he named none other than former LSU WR Odell Beckham Jr.

“I like the style he plays with. It’s kind of like mine. He has a different swagger about himself. Playing receiver, you have to have that different type of swagger on the field… he carries that very well, and I want to be like him.”

Netherly also explained that if he could pick any NFL team to be drafted by, he would hope to be picked up by the Carolina Panthers, ironically the former team of Odell Beckham Jr.’s arch rival – Josh Norman. He said that he was drawn to the team particularly because of his fondness of Cam Newton and his quarterbacking style.

His advice to other high school football players that want to go on to play for a major program like LSU?

“Don’t stop working. My sophomore year, I didn’t receive an offer until like the last 3 weeks of school. So, I kept going to camps, kept working, kept praying about it. Then I got my first offer from SMU. But after the first offer, you don’t stop. You gotta keep grinding, and the sky is the limit from there… let your parents help you and guide you to the right decision.”

The early enrollee will be headed to Baton Rouge to begin preparing for next season Jan. 9th.