Former Sulphur Baseball player Jake Brown to play for LSU, won’t sign with Texas Rangers

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - Former Sulphur baseball player Jake Brown was selected by the Texas Rangers in the 16th round, 471st overall in last week’s MLB Draft, but after being selected, Brown wasn’t sure if he would sign with the Rangers, or play for the reigning National Champions as he told KPLC “They’re (LSU) coming off of a National Championship so it’s a great team to join and be apart of, but also if I can go the pro route and speed up my development, maybe help myself get to the big leagues faster, it’s just ultimately going to be what me, my family, and my agent think is best for my future.”

One week later, and Brown has made his decision, as he took to Twitter on Tuesday afternoon to announce he would be donning the purple and gold for LSU beginning with the 2024 season, and would not be signing with the Texas Rangers.

The decision means Brown won’t be draft-eligible until 2026, but during his interview with KPLC after being drafted, that didn’t seem to be something that worried him, explaining that Tigers Head Coach Jay Johnson believes in Brown, and going to LSU could help improve Brown’s stock for the 2026 draft or beyond.

“LSU is my dream school, I’ve been wanting to come here ever since I learned what baseball was. It’s something that me and Coach (Jay) Johnson have talked about actually. The foundation he’s working with right now is... he sees me in the future as being a golden spikes winner, he sees me as being able to lead the team, win a National Championship, and not only that but also improve myself and help my draft stock. What Coach Johnson is doing is awesome and I have all the faith in the world in that man.”

Brown, who was still unsure about whether he would stay with LSU or sign with the Rangers at the time, went on to add that the fact that LSU led the nation with 13 selections in the 2023 MLB Draft, was an enticing reason to stay put in Baton Rouge.

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