By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
LSU interim head coach Frank Wilson started recruiting true freshman running back Harlem Berry when he was an eighth grader and kept hearing the music.
Wilson knew Berry’s father, Harry Berry, as they went to St. Augustine High School in New Orleans at the same time, and he got to know the family even more when recruiting Berry out of St. Martin’s Episcopal School in Metairie.
“His dad was in the band when I played football,” Wilson said at LSU’s game week press conference on Monday leading into LSU (5-3, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) playing at No. 4 Alabama (7-1, 5-0 SEC) on Saturday (6:30 p.m., ABC).
“His grandfather is a musician – jazz. So, they’re New Orleans jazz culture to the max,” Wilson said. “His mom is a member of Zulu (Mardi Gras parade), and all of this great stuff. The courtship of Harlem, a lot of it was rekindling, reminiscing with his parents, and then observing him from afar.”
After … The Last 7 Days Of October That Shook The World Of LSU … it’s back to a game week, and guess who? Bama:https://t.co/6ZT0S4NTHF
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) November 3, 2025
At the time, Berry was an undersized kid who played recreational football in New Orleans, but Wilson knew he was going to be special.
“You knew what he had done in NORD (New Orleans Recreation Department),” Wilson said. “You knew what type of player he was then, going against the best players in the city at that time.”
Once Berry got to Episcopal, he ran track and played football, baseball and basketball.
“Even though he was going to a school that wasn’t necessarily a football powerhouse, you saw the flashes, the body movement, contact balance, all the things that you look for in a dynamic student-athlete,” Wilson said. “And then you saw it on the baseball field, on the basketball court, on the track and so we went all in.”
Berry rushed for more than 2,000 yards each year of his high school career, which helped him become a consensus five-star prospect and No. 1 running back in the nation. Berry also won the Louisiana 1A title in his freshman year in the 100- and 200-meter dashes.
Now, Berry (5-foot-11, 190 pounds) is coming off two LSU games in which he gained 111 yards on 19 carries in losses at Vanderbilt and to Texas A&M. He started for the first time this season against A&M on Oct. 25, gaining 59 yards on nine carries with a touchdown.
“It just took a little time,” Wilson said. “He’s probably put on 18 to 20 pounds since he got here in January. “So, he is ascending the way that we thought he would be, and I think he’s going to be an outstanding football player when it’s all said and done.”
Through eight games, Berry has 225 rushing yards on 46 carries with two touchdowns.
Wilson has made it known that the Tigers are going to be committed to running the ball for the rest of this season.
LSU’s rushing offense ranks second to last in the SEC at No. 15, averaging just 106 yards per game. But you can’t be successful at something you don’t attempt to do.
“When you run less than 20 times a game, you make it challenging for yourself,” Wilson said.
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