Interest high in EX-LSU defender

Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS — About 20 college football programs have asked LSU for permission to speak with All-America cornerback and punt returner Tyrann Mathieu.

Herb Vincent, the university’s vice chancellor of communications, provided the figure Wednesday, but added that LSU only considers granting requests to schools Mathieu has approved.

“This is consistent with the way we handle transfer requests for other LSU student-athletes,” Vincent said.

Vincent says he cannot release which schools have been in touch with LSU and which have been approved other than McNeese State, which has already announced that Mathieu visited its campus in Lake Charles, La.

Nicholls State officials said Wednesday that they had received permission from LSU’s compliance department to speak with Mathieu, but have not yet met with the 2011 Heisman Trophy finalist.

Mathieu was kicked off the LSU football team last Friday, reportedly for the latest of several failed drug tests. He has not yet announced his plans for this season.

Officials at McNeese State, where classes began Wednesday, say there remains some leeway for Mathieu to enroll within the next few days. Classes do not begin at Nicholls State until Aug. 22.

As for the possibility of Mathieu returning to play for LSU in 2013, Vincent reiterated recent comments that the university “Will not speculate on Tyrann’s future with the LSU football program at this time.”

Mathieu can only play this season if he joins a program at the FCS level, the second tier of Division I, or a team in a lower division. If he wants to play another season at the Division I FBS level, he would have to wait until 2013, but will have become eligible for the NFL draft by then.

Both McNeese State and Nicholls State play in the Southland Conference, one of the top leagues at the FCS level.