MEADVILLE &045; It wouldn’t have taken a fortune-teller to see this day coming &045; but so soon?

Franklin County’s Marcus Tillman committed to play football at LSU earlier this week, preempting speculation about where the talented defensive end will play college football.

&uot;I just wanted to get it over with,&uot; Tillman said. &uot;I didn’t want it hanging over me any longer.&uot;

Tillman, All-Metro Player of the Year in basketball and an All-Metro first-team selection in football in 2004-05, will play his senior season with the Bulldogs this fall.

&uot;He’s a big-time player and that’s a big-time school,&uot; Franklin County head coach Grady McCluskey said. &uot;He’s excited and happy about it and we are all too.&uot;

McCluskey said he hadn’t expected Tillman to make a decision this soon, but he had advised him to do it before the start of football this fall.

&uot;I didn’t know he was going to commit this early. He wanted to get it off his chest. Some of his teachers had told me his attitude had changed recently and they were concerned about him,&uot; McCluskey said. &uot;I don’t know if he really wanted to go through the phone calls and all the things that would happen. I told him, ‘You need to make you’re100 percent sure before you do this.’ He went ahead and pulled the trigger.&uot;

Tillman said LSU had been his No. 1 choice for quite some time now.

&uot;That was pretty much my school, but I wanted to go look at some other places to make sure,&uot; Tillman said. &uot;They have a good environment on campus and a good academic program. I also have family there, some aunts and uncles. The coaches just showed me the campus. I already had it in my mind to go there.&uot;

McCluskey said the proximity to Tillman’s family played a large part in the decision.

&uot;I know he wanted to stay close to his family. He wanted them to see him play,&uot; McCluskey said. &uot;I figured it would be three in-state schools or LSU. He thought LSU was the best place for him, so he called and told them he was coming.&uot;

The recent departure of former LSU head coach Nick Saban and subsequent hiring of Les Miles had little effect on his decision, Tillman said.

&uot;I know they aren’t going hire somebody who isn’t any good down there,&uot; Tillman said.

Tillman said he didn’t know what interest his brother Bo, a freshman defensive tackle for Franklin County last fall, might have in following in his big brother’s footsteps.

&uot;I don’t know,&uot; Marcus said. &uot;I just want him to do whatever he wants to do.&uot;