One mother of a recruiting battle

[Coach Hank Crisp]

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This story appears in the Feb. 6, 2012 "Recruiting Issue" of ESPN The Magazine. Subscribe today!

LANDON COLLINS, the nation's top-ranked high school safety, rides shotgun in an old Jeep Cherokee headed toward his mother's house in Harvey, La. Collins is not pleased with his mom. Four days ago, on Jan. 5, at the Under Armour All-America Game in St. Petersburg, Fla., he became the most recognized recruit in the country, and not because of the interception and touchdown-saving goal-line tackle he made that night. Collins is famous because his mother upstaged him, on live TV, in the biggest moment of his life.

In the fourth quarter of the game, with Collins' family and friends crowded around him on a makeshift stage, ESPN's Dari Nowkhah asked the 18-year-old senior what school he would attend; he had narrowed the choice to LSU and Alabama. Nervous, excited, Collins drawled out an "I'm gonna go 'Roll Tide, Roll.'" His mother, April Justin, sitting next to him, placed a hand on her temple and shook her head. As the rest of Collins' family tried to applaud the awkwardness away, Nowkhah put the mic on Justin.

[Coach Hank Crisp]

Landon included his mom when it came time to finalize his decision. That's how, with Collins leaning toward Alabama this fall, Saban came to visit Justin. She says the coach offended her during his stay by promising that her son would be a high NFL draft pick and receive a multimillion-dollar contract. "I think he stereotyped me," Justin says. In her mind, Saban had told her what he thought she wanted to hear, when her real concerns were about academics and how a program would take care of her son.

CNS told her the truth. JMHO

[Chechem]

This guy was an LSU fans too, at least until January 9.

Ms. Justin's only fault was jumping the LSU bandwagon; maybe now she's too proud to admit that.  I doubt there is a football analyst in the USA who would think LC would be better off at LSU than Alabama, academics or otherwise.  I'd like to ask her if she thinks hanging out at bars after curfew, arrested for kicking heads, or smoking fake weed is appealing for her son.  

 

[SUPERCOACH]

She sounds petty and manipulative to me.  She is just playing a game trying to get what she wants.

[Coach Hank Crisp]

She sounds petty and manipulative to me.  She is just playing a game trying to get what she wants.

Sounds like Cam Newton's dad to me. JMHO

[2Stater]

She'll be a Bama fan before it's all over. 

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