Despite reports of interest elsewhere, athletic officials at Louisiana State University denied Southern University head football coach Stump Mitchell the chance to meet with recently dismissed all-American defensive back Tyrann Mathieu. LSU has refused comment on the denial of Mitchell’s request, but Mathieu was granted permission to speak with nearby McNeese State last Friday.

Straight up racism? Possibly, but it’s more likely that LSU doesn’t want Southern to have the national spotlight that would accompany Mathieu to the Bluff. Mathieu wouldn’t resurrect SU football by his lonesome, but he would fashion a new national media story of second chances at Southern; a trend that already exists among black athletes at PWIs and would likely grown with Mathieu’s example.

The Honey Badger will make his decision on Wednesday, and with each passing day and no sighting of Mathieu on an HBCU yard, the chances of a black college landing him grows slimmer.

But still, granting McNeese State the chance to speak with Mathieu and denying the same chance to Southern just stirs up a lot of unflattering, undeniable realities about race and positioning in Louisiana.

Southern University Tyrann Mathieu