247Sports’ No. 1 ranked prospect in Belleville (Mich.) High five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood announced his commitment to LSU on Saturday during a ceremony at the school. The ballyhooed signal-caller chose the Tigers over his other finalists in Alabama, Michigan, Colorado, Penn State, Florida State and Oregon.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Underwood becomes commit No. 8 for head coach Brian Kelly and his staff in the 2025 recruiting cycle, a haul that rises three spots to No. 2 in the 247Sports Composite Team Recruiting Rankings. Quarterbacks coach Joe Sloan was the lead recruiter for Underwood who visited campus three times last year including the night game victory over Auburn.
“Great coaching staff, amazing coaching staff, amazing atmosphere,” Underwood told 247Sports. “The program itself is very historical. A lot of great players went in and out of Louisiana State University. The food is amazing. It’s a lot of real people out there. A lot of people from Michigan. A lot of things we can relate to.”
As a junior Underwood led Belleville to a third-straight state title game appearance, throwing for 3,165 yards and 40 touchdowns to just two interceptions. He added another seven rushing scores. A two-time state champion in the years prior, Underwood finished his sophomore season completing 65 percent of his passes for 2,751 yards and 37 touchdowns with another 642 yards rushing and eight more scores. In Underwood’s ninth-grade campaign he threw for nearly 3,000 yards and 39 touchdowns to just four interceptions.
“We have had a pretty solid run of quarterbacks in Michigan even going back to the 2010s and I think Bryce has the most upside of any of them,” 247Sports National Analyst and Michigan native Allen Trieu said. “Saying upside might give the wrong impression though, because he’s not just potential, he’s gone 39-1, gone to three state title games and won multiple Player of the Year type awards in that time. But what makes him so exciting is the combination of that production and that there is still room for him to keep growing and developing.
“It’s a bit of a scouting cliche, but he really has all the tools,” Trieu continued. “I think he would be a Power Five recruit as a receiver or safety, that’s how athletic he is. To be clear, I’m not suggesting that happens, that’s just a comment on his physical gifts. I’ve seen him make clutch, game-winning plays, and seen him make every throw needed on the field. He’s motivated, he works at it, and I think he will keep progressing towards his ceiling as a result. And that ceiling is way up there.”
A visit to LSU back in March including time spent with Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels was a special experience.
“Oh man it was amazing at LSU,” Underwood’s father Jaquan said. “Amazing. It was like a second home. Loved it.
“It was the fact the coaches are very relatable,” the elder Underwood said of what stood out. “They took their time. They have patience for us. They have a plan for us. Brian Kelly did an amazing job of putting the staff together and everyone knows their role. They don’t mind helping each other. You can see it. They just took their time with us. They listened to our story. We listened to their story. They worked together and accomplished a very successful visit.
“Like we told them, it’s not the buildings. Everybody has beautiful buildings. It’s the people. How people approach you. How they take their time with you. Their emotion and their demeanor. They’re blatantly honest and give you the real on their expectations for their team and the young men coming into the program and everything.”
LSU checked all the boxes Underwood was looking for.
“Development for the next level is one of the main things,” Underwood said of what he is looking for in a school. “I would say somewhere I feel like it’s home, somewhere my family feels agrees it’s home and a great spot for me.”
With that, Underwood leaned on his parents to help him get to this point.
“One thing we instill in Bryce is balance,” his mother Beverly said. “Making sure his decision will be based on him first of all being challenged academically, being mentally and emotionally healthy in this journey. Somewhere he is being challenged on the football field and he is able to use his voice as a leader. Also somewhere he can lay down a foundation of being legendary. I would say those factors. Somewhere he is comfortable where he can use his voice and where he’s being heard.”
“One thing was always education,” Jaquan added. “We want to make sure he goes to school and gets his education. He’s got two different things he wants to take up. We wanted to make sure those were the foundation. He wanted to go to school for psychology that’s one thing. The other one was sports medicine. Then football. That was the grounds of it. The second part, what school made him feel comfortable enough he can develop his success in life in. Once we factor those things in, we started visiting schools and seeing what they had to offer.”
This has a chance to be a special class for LSU as Underwood joins a haul that also includes fellow five-star and 247Sports top-ranked receiver Dakorien Moore and the 247Sports Composite’s No. 1 running back in Harlem Berry.
