re: 2019 Football Recruiting Thread - Auburn Goes 4/7 & Land Brothers

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These aren’t always the stories fans want to read.

But they’re the ones that give the best picture of how hard these college decisions can be.

Four-star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase woke up the morning of his National Signing Day commitment with uncertainty remaining. He knew he’d be a Tiger. But in which state? At which school? The decision came down to Auburn and LSU, but ultimately the Metairie, La., native chose the in-state team.

His decision truly came down to the final moments.

“This morning when I woke up,” Chase told SEC Country. “The night before when I went to sleep, Auburn was on my mind. That’s where I wanted to go at first, but I had to follow my heart. I prayed about it. It’s been a hard few days coming back from my Auburn official, so I prayed on everything.”

In the end, family became a major factor.

Not that his family prevented him from going to Auburn, just the idea of having people close enough to attend most, if not all games, was too tough for Chase to pass up. Despite committing to Kansas and Florida throughout the process, Chase felt by the end of the process it made more sense to stay closer to home.

LSU gained from that choice.

“They just wanted to make sure they could make games and watch me play,” Chase said. “They couldn’t make every game at Auburn, so I thought about that and by them coming up there for every home game would be a 4-hour drive vs. LSU being a 1-hour drive. Them being closer will be better for them.”

Chase’s father, Jimmy, joined Ja’Marr on his official visit.

The Chases tried to come to the Plains on two previous occasions. Chase attempted to attend an Auburn home game toward the end of the season. He was injured during his Friday night game, which forced him to rearrange plans. Chase was scheduled for a Jan. 19 official visit to Auburn. That, too, had to be rescheduled.

To Jimmy Chase, as they searched for reasons to choose one, those previous trips felt like a telling omen.

“Auburn made a serious push at the end. They came on strong, but you have to understand that we didn’t have enough time with Auburn to build a relationship. Every time we were scheduled to go to Auburn, something came up,” Jimmy Chase said. “It was a sign more or less.”

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