LSU Football Returns To No. 1 In Transfer Portal After Adding No. 4 DL Bernard Gooden

LSU is back.

Football coach Brian Kelly’s 2024-25 NCAA Transfer Portal returned to No. 1 in the nation on Saturday, according to 247Sports.com’s rankings with the addition of No. 4-ranked defensive lineman transfer Bernard Gooden of South Florida.

LSU’s portal class was No. 1 in January and stayed there for several weeks with 16 signees before dipping to No. 4. Gooden (6-foot-1, 280 pounds) is the 49th overall prospect in the portal and a four-star transfer who is the Tigers’ 17th portal signee. He made 35 tackles with 10 for lost yardage and 1.5 sacks through 11 starts and 13 games last season for South Florida (7-6, 4-4 American Athletic Conference) as a senior in the 2024 season. He will be a fifth-year senior for the Tigers.

Texas Tech is ranked No. 2 by 247sports.com with 19 portal signees. Ole Miss is No. 3 and with 11 more portal signees than LSU at 28. Oregon is fourth with 10 signees, and Florida State is fifth with 17.

On3.com’s top five has Texas Tech, Ole Miss, LSU, Oregon and Miami.

Gooden originally signed with Wake Forest out of Park Crossing High in Montgomery, Alabama, in 2021 as a three-star prospect – the No. 154 defensive lineman in the nation and No. 58 player in Alabama. After redshirting in 2021, he played in 12 games in 2022 as a backup with seven tackles and 1.5 stops for loss, sat out 2023 and transferred to South Florida.

LSU’s NUMBER ONE TRANSFER PORTAL CLASS (Rankings by 247sports.com)

-No. 7 Overall and No. 2 DE Patrick Payton, Florida State.

-No. 9 Overall and No. 3 WR Nic Anderson, Oklahoma.

-No. 16 Overall and No. 2 INTERIOR-OL Josh Thompson, Northwestern.

-No. 36 Overall and No. 10 WR-RET Barion Brown, Kentucky.

-No. 38 Overall and No. 4 INTERIOR-OL Braelin Moore, Virginia Tech.

-No. 49 Overall and No. 4 DL Bernard Gooden, South Florida.

-No. 88 Overall and No. 14 DE Jack Pyburn, Florida.

-No. 103 Overall and No. 14 CB Mansoor Delane, Virginia Tech.

-No. 112 Overall and No. 15 CB Ja’Keem Jackson, Florida.

-No. 141 Overall and No. 3 S Tamarcus Cooley, North Carolina State

-No. 146 Overall and No. 17 DE Jimari Butler, Nebraska.

-No. 186 Overall and No. 16 QB Michael Van Buren, Mississippi State.

-No. 211 Overall and No. 11 TE Bauer Sharp, Oklahoma.

-No. 498 Overall and No. 50 DT Sydir Mitchell, Texas.

-No. 665 Overall and No. 34 TE Donovan Green, Texas A&M

-No. 1,152 Overall and No. 201 WR Destyn Hill, Florida State.

-Unranked P Grant Chadwick, Middle Tennessee State.

FRESHMAN SIGNEE ENTERS TRANSFER PORTAL

Just before LSU signed Bernard Gooden, freshman signee defensive lineman Dilan Battle entered the portal. Battle signed with LSU as a three-star prospect and the No. 82 defensive lineman in the nation and No. 110 prospect in Texas from Mansfield Timberview High in Arlington. He graduated from high school in December, enrolled at LSU in January and went through spring practice.