Austin's ascent to tech hub was kickstarted by someone who dropped out of UT, which is a public university, which is the scenario I was directly analogizing in my post above. Austin being in Texas is basically a fart in a hurricane, but Baton Rouge being an Austin analogue with significant knock on effects in NOLA similar to that which Austin has had on San Antonio, would make a much larger impact on LA.
UT is fucking huge as far as public universities go. Everything’s bigger in Texas, and that includes state fairs and the largest public university. Its closest equivalent is Ohio State in terms of size; really, its only equivalent is Ohio State.
It’s also considered a Public Ivy so it’s a hell of a school. LSU is not, and its enrollment is a little over half that of UT. Furthermore, it feeds into New Orleans and that’s it - it’s a four-hour drive from Baton Rouge to Houston (Austin, by comparison, is two and a half.) Austin feeds into three major Texas cities that Baton Rouge can barely touch.
So a “Research Triangle” is possible in Texas if UT, TCU and, I don’t know, UH or Baylor get in on it (Baylor’s a reach distance-wise but solid academically.) Baton Rouge is in a tougher spot. Not saying it’s impossible or ASB but it’s far more likely in Texas than Louisiana. You would need someone who is both a genius and a diehard Louisianan, kind of a nerd equivalent of LeBron James.