LSU women’s basketball misses out on top-ranked class of 2024 recruiting target

It’s been a tough week or so for the LSU women’s basketball program. Following a recent loss at the hands of South Carolina in the SEC Tournament Championships Final, the Tigers just took a hefty blow on the recruiting trail. Earlier today, top-ranked class of 2024 forward Sarah Strong announced that she was no longer considering the purple and gold.

Five-star class of 2024 forward announces top-three schools

And just like that, it seems as though LSU women’s basketball is most likely set to end the class of 2024 recruiting cycle with just one signee.

Heading into the day, the lone recruit set to make her way over was that of four-star point guard Jada Richard out of Lafayette, LA. As one of the more impressive players on offense and a top-100 overall prospect, she has the potential to be fantastic for the Tigers. Looking ahead, it has just been a matter of whether she’d be heading to Baton Rouge on her own or not.

However for coach Kim Mulkey’s squad, it now appears as though this will indeed end up being the case. One of the final big-time recruits the Tigers were targeting was five-star forward Sarah Strong, the No. 1 player nationally.

Unfortunately for the program, she announced her top three schools earlier this afternoon, excluding the purple and gold along the way.

Sarah Strong (#1 in ‘24) is now down to three schools: Duke, North Carolina, and UConn.

Where would you want to see Strong land? 👀 pic.twitter.com/3zwu20uW4q

— I talk hoops 🏀 (@trendyhoopstars) March 15, 2024

With her final choice being between Duke, North Carolina and UConn, a few things stand out immediately. For one, the Tigers were one of the unlucky few to not make the final list, but it’s notable to mention that no other SEC schools made it either.

While it’s never ideal to lose out in a recruitment, it’s even less ideal to lose a recruit to an in-conference foe. While only being a small victory, the Lady Tigers have to feel good about the fact that they at least won’t need to face off against the talented 6-foot-2 forward all that often.

Barring any last minute changes on the recruiting front for coach Kim Mulkey and LSU, it appears they’ll stop at five signees over the last two cycles combined. Depending on the final decisions of Hailey Van Lith and Angel Reese, don’t be surprised to see the purple and gold dip into the transfer portal yet again as they look to fill out a complete roster for the 2024-25 season.

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