LSU football transfer class surges to top of rankings after adding prized defender
LSU football’s transfer portal class reclaimed its spot atop the portal rankings with the addition of former USF defensive tackle Bernard Gooden.
The Tigers had been surpassed by Texas Tech earlier this month when the Red Raiders earned a commitment from ex-Stanford pass rusher David Bailey. Now, according to 247Sports, LSU sits at No. 1 with Texas Tech holding the No. 2 spot.
LSU head coach Brian Kelly previously said he didn’t expect LSU to be busy in the spring portal, but LSU jumped at the chance to add an experienced defensive tackle to the roster.
Gooden puts LSU’s class at 17 transfers. Per 247, 11 of those 17 players are four-star recruits. After a 9-4 season in 2024, Kelly and LSU made an all-out push to upgrade the roster across the board. The Tigers have done just that.
LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker said LSU had talent, but the team needed more returning players with 500+ snaps of experience. Gooden fits that description after having a breakout year with USF in 2024.
LSU’s defensive tackle room offers promise entering 2025. LSU returns Dominick McKinley and Ahmad Breaux after the two made contributions as true freshmen. Veteran Jacobian Guillory is back after missing most of 2024 with an injury. Now, Gooden adds another talented option to the mix.
The Caribbean island nation of about 400,000 people has been without a top American diplomat since November 2011. Absent a U.S. ambassador, there have been eight chargés d’affaires, people who hold a top U.S. embassy post when no ambassador is in place.
Diplomatic relief may finally be coming in the form of Herschel Walker, President Donald Trump’s pick to be U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas, assuming the college football legend can win confirmation in the Republican-majority Senate.
Confirmation for the nomination of Walker, who lost a 2022 Georgia Senate bid in one of that cycle’s most bruising campaigns, would end one of the strangest diplomatic sagas in recent memory.
