TSSAA Football: 4-star DB CJ Jimcoily talks recruiting and his top schools
Four-star DB CJ Jimcoily of Lipscomb Academy talked about recruiting and which schools he likes, including Tennessee, during Thursday’s showcase.
Lipscomb Academy defensive end CJ Jimcoily has committed to the LSU football team and coach Brian Kelly over Stanford on Thursday, he announced live on Instagram.
The 6-foot-2, 195-pound four-star recruit is the 12th-best prospect in Tennessee for the class of 2025, according to the 247Sports Composite. He is the 29th-best safety in the nation.
Alabama and Tennessee were Jimcoily’s other finalists. Several of his former Lipscomb teammates are on Tennessee’s roster, but Jimcoily was looking for something different.
“I really loved Tennessee, don’t get me wrong. But a lot of my teammates chose that path and honestly, being me, I wanted to choose my own path,” Jimcoily said. “Tennessee was a safe bet if I didn’t want to go all-in somewhere else, but I went all-in on LSU.”
Former Lipscomb stars Kaleb Beasley, Edwin Spillman and Nate Spillman are all at UT, as is Bradley Central graduate Boo Carter, who played 7-on-7 with Jimcoily. Fellow Nashville natives, 2025 stars George MacIntyre (Brentwood Academy) and Ethan Utley (Ensworth) are also currently under contract with Josh Heupel and the Vols.
But LSU was superior to other schools.
“It was pretty tough choosing between Stanford and LSU, those were the top two. I had to choose between a strong academic foundation and making some sacrifices in athletics (at Stanford), and then a strong athletic foundation at LSU and making some sacrifices in academics,” Jimcoily said. “When it came down to it, LSU (spoke) was able to offer some academic things, as well as connections to their brand, because the LSU brand is insane. I’ll be able to use that to strengthen my own brand and use it to my advantage.”
More: “He’s Mr. Everything”: How Lipscomb Academy’s 4-star DB CJ Jimcoily went his own way
Jimcoily informed LSU coaches of his decision about two weeks ago, he said. Safety coach Jake Olsen was his primary recruiter, but former Tigers defensive back JaCoby Stevens, who played in Oakland and is now on LSU’s coaching staff, also tried to recruit him.
The Tigers stepped up their recruiting over the winter, Jimcoily said after LSU completed the hiring of new defensive coordinator Blake Baker. Jimcoily took his official visit to LSU on June 14.
He and Kelly got along well, he said.
“You can definitely see his eyes light up when he talks about the ball,” Jimcoily said. “Not only that, but we’ve talked about things that are important to me outside of football, and you can see that same light up in his eyes.”
More: Here’s who narrowly missed the Tennessean’s selection for the 2024 Dandy Dozen
Alabama made a splash in Jimcoily’s recruitment when it offered him a scholarship in May. “The University of Alabama is what it is. It’s a brand that you respect no matter what. I gave it a lot of consideration,” Jimcoily said.
Jimcoily has more than 40 offers, including Michigan, Colorado, Florida, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin and Arkansas. He had 51 tackles last season, 3.5 for loss and one interception while playing both cornerback and safety. The Mustangs struggled last season, finishing 4-6. Kevin Mawae was fired in his only season as coach after the school was excluded from the 2023 and 2024 TSSAA playoffs for violating TSSAA recruiting regulations.
Jimcoily and teammate Chauncey Gooden, who has chosen Colorado, have found creative ways to announce scholarship offers, using social media as a platform.
Reach sportswriter George Robinson at [email protected] and on the X-Platform (formerly Twitter) @Cville_Sports.
