Louisville Steals OLB/DE Aaron Odom away from Mississippi State
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @HogManInLA
An April 16 commitment to Mississippi State turned into a flip to Louisville on Wednesday for defensive end/outside linebacker Aaron Odom.
Odom worked his way into being rated as a 247Sports three-star recruit over the past two seasons after coming up with 124 tackles, 28 tackles for a loss, and 18 sacks in 2015 and 166 tackles, 25 tackles for a loss, 28 sacks, and 59 QB hurries during his senior campaign. The 6-3, 250 pound, playmaker took his terrorizing of opposing 6A Mississippi squads to another level in 2016 forcing nine fumbles while recovering four.
As Odom was helping his Callaway High School squad to a 7-5 record in 2016, offers and interest kept coming in for the Jackson area talent. Odom had reported offers from Tennessee, Missouri, Southern Miss, Minnesota, Louisiana-Lafayette, Indiana, Memphis, and Florida State among others. Louisville got into the mix with an offer on Dec. 1 luring Odom for an official visit on Jan. 14.
On Jan. 18, Odom posted his change of heart on Twitter writing, “To all my supporters and enemies/haters, thank you, it was the best opportunity for me #GoCards.” The post was accompanied with a statement:
The big steal for the Cardinals with Odom pushes their 2017 class to 23 commits with 13 of the verbal commits slated to play defense for Louisville. The defensive haul is a big win for coordinator Peter Sirmon under offensive minded head coach Bobby Petrino.
Rivals rates Louisville’s 2017 class No. 20 in the nation with five four-star talents; Malik Cunningham, Corey Reed, Justin Marshall, Colin Wilson, and Russ Yeast.
Louisville Cardinals 2017 Verbal Commitment List (23)
SS CJ Avery, 6-1, 196, Grenada HS, Grenada, MS *Enrolled
SS Rodney Owens, 6-0, 180, Ensworth HS, Nashville, TN
SS TreSean Smith, 6-1, 180, La Salle, Cincinnati, OH
SS Lyndarious Strange, 6-3, 190, North Florida, Tallahassee, FL *Enrolled
CB Anthony Johnson, 6-2, 180, Chaminade-Madonna, Hollywood, FL
CB Kaheen Roach, 6-1, 185, Miramar, Hollywood, FL
CB Russ Yeast, 5-10.5, 178, Center Grove HS, Greenwood, IN
LB Malik Clark, 6-4, 235, Baldwin, Milledgeville, GA
LB Dorian Etheridge, 6-3, 210, Capital, Charleston, WV
DE Kam Jones, 6-1, 218, Peachtree Ridge, Suwanee, GA *Enrolled
DE Aaron Odom, 6-3, 250, Callaway HS, Jackson, MS
DE Jabreel Stephens, 6-3.5, 228, Armwood HS, Seffner, FL
DT Ben Hutch, 6-3.5, 315, Hillsboro HS, Nashville, TN
OG Cole Bentley, 6-4.5, 290, Belfry, Belfry, KY *Enrolled
OT Caleb Chandler, 6-5, 295, Jefferson HS, Jefferson, GA
OT Ronald Rudd, 6-7, 305, Chaffey College, Rancho Cucamonga, CA
TE Kemari Averett, 6-7, 215, Grady HS, Atlanta, GA
RB Colin Wilson, 6-1, 220, Clay HS, Green Cove Springs, FL
WR Josh Johnson, 5-11, 175, Woodward Academy, Atlanta, GA
WR Justin Marshall, 6-2, 185, Newton HS, Covington, GA
WR Corey Reed, 6-3, 200, Roswell, Roswell, GA
ATH Malik Cunningham, 6-0, 187, Park Crossing HS, Montgomery, AL
LS Mitch Hall, 6-2, 205, Clayton HS, Clayton, NC
Photo credit: scout.com; Aaron Odom.