Defensive lineman Bernard Gooden, one of the top-rated players in the spring transfer portal, has signed with LSU and will join the Tigers for the 2025 season.

Gooden, a native of Montgomery, Ala., comes to LSU after two years at South Florida where he earned honorable mention All-AAC honors in 2024.

As a junior in 2024, Gooden appeared in 13 games, starting 11 times. He tallied 35 tackles, 10.0 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and recovered two fumbles.

He sat out the 2022 season due to NCAA transfer rules after spending two seasons at Wake Forest.

Gooden redshirted as a true freshman in 2021 and then followed that by appearing in 12 games with seven tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.

Commitment No. 2: A.J. Haulcy [Houston SAF]

Haulcy, the No. 1 available player in the NCAA Transfer Portal, is coming off of a career year in the Lone Star State after earning All-Conference honors.

spring window of the Transfer Portal.

After signing 16 players during the winter window, Kelly and Co. elected to take a “quiet” approach during the current stretch with two playerrs catching their eye.

Now, with a pair of newcomers in the mix, LSU will have 18 transfers on the roster for the 2025 season while holding the No. 1 portal haul in America.

Kelly and the staff in Baton Rouge have upped the ante on the NIL side of things in order to use the free agent market as a resource.

While developing relationships with the top prospects in America, the program now has the ability to compensate players accordingly to compete against other powerhouse programs.

“It has put us in a position where we can be aggressive on anybody that comes into the portal. And that simply wasn’t the case before,” Kelly said of the new NIL approach in December.

“I’m not saying this particular match did that, but I think it really sent a message to everybody that this is where we are today. And if we want to be where we all want to be in terms of putting our roster together, we all have to step up. It started with me, and I think our fanbase responded equally.”

Which transfers did the LSU Tigers reel in during the spring window of the portal?

Commitment No. 1: Bernard Gooden [South Florida DL]
Defensive lineman Bernard Gooden, one of the top-rated players in the spring transfer portal, has signed with LSU and will join the Tigers for the 2025 season.

Gooden, a native of Montgomery, Ala., comes to LSU after two years at South Florida where he earned honorable mention All-AAC honors in 2024.

As a junior in 2024, Gooden appeared in 13 games, starting 11 times. He tallied 35 tackles, 10.0 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and recovered two fumbles.

He sat out the 2022 season due to NCAA transfer rules after spending two seasons at Wake Forest.

Gooden redshirted as a true freshman in 2021 and then followed that by appearing in 12 games with seven tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.

Commitment No. 2: A.J. Haulcy [Houston SAF]
Haulcy, the No. 1 available player in the NCAA Transfer Portal, is coming off of a career year in the Lone Star State after earning All-Conference honors.