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Transfer Targets: Some names to watch for LSU in the transfer portal

Dec 10, 2024 | 5:59 PM

By Hunt Palmer

The portal is open, and the mad rush to enter will be followed by visits and commitments elsewhere.

As LSU’s current roster settles in for final exams this week, the Tiger coaching staff will be contacting portal prospects and getting some of them in for visits.

LSU needs help just about everywhere at this point, but here is a list of some early names to watch in the portal.

Luke Hasz, TE, Arkansas

  • Hasz exploded onto the scene as a freshman with 253 yards and three touchdowns in his first five games. A season-ending injury cut that year short. In 2024, he led the Hogs in touchdown catches with four. LSU should be attractive to Hasz. Mason Taylor is leaving as the most productive tight end in school history, and Brian Kelly helped put nine Notre Dame tight ends into the NFL headlined by Kyle Rudolph, Tyler Eiffert and Cole Kmet. LSU essentially doesn’t have a tight end on campus at the moment. Taylor bolted, and Ka’Morreun Pimpton hit the portal on Tuesday. That means Trey’Dez Green is all that’s left, and he spent the last month of the season at wide receiver. Hasz is set to visit Ole Miss and Alabama this week, so it stands to reason that the 6-foot-3, 240 pounder wants to stay in the SEC. LSU needs to make a good first impression. And offer.

 

Will Heldt, Defensive End, Purdue

  • As Da’Shawn Womack left the building, LSU’s defensive end situation became dire. Gabriel Reliford showed some promise in his first season. He seems primed to take one spot. Dylan Carpenter and incoming Damien Shanklin are the only other real options on the end. That’s not nearly enough. LSU needs to bolster that group with some physicality and pass rushing ability. Heldt offers both. He’s 6-foot-6 and 250 lbs., and he played two years at Purdue. As a sophomore, he totaled 56 tackles, five sacks and 10 tackles for loss. Considering what Kevin Peoples helped do with Sai’vion Jones and Bradyn Swinson, Baton Rouge should be an attractive spot for any edge rusher. Heldt is reportedly visiting A&M. Nic Scourton left Purdue for A&M last year, and he’s going to be a Top 15 pick in this draft. Something to watch there.

 

Jimari Butler, Defensive End, Nebraska

  • Buter is another veteran. He’s played three seasons at Nebraska where he’s totaled 56 tackles and 7.5 sacks. On3’s Hayes Fawcett tweeted on Monday night that Butler’s down to Florida State, LSU and Texas A&M. Based on that list, Butler likely won’t come cheap. We’ll see if the Tigers can swim in the deep end here.

Williams Nwaneri, Defensive End, Missouri

  • The previous names on this list have been productive college players and will be draftable players next spring. Nwaneri is all potential. But it’s a lot of potential. Nwaneri signed at Missouri last year as the No. 7 player in America and the No. 1 edge rusher. He’s 6-foot-7 with long limbs and all the tools you’d look for. He hardly saw the field as a freshman, making just three tackles in four games in a redshirt season. He notched just one sack at UMASS. LSU does have a potential “in” here as Blake Baker and Kevin Peoples helped sign him at Missouri before heading down to Baton Rouge. It would stand to reason LSU could get in the mix here. Baker and Peoples know him as well as anyone who will recruit him this time around.

 

Zechariah Poyser, Safety, Jacksonville State

  • Poyser is a rangy safety with a nose for the ball. The 6-foot-2, 190 lbs., safety made 47 tackles, eight tackles for loss and picked off three passes this year for the Gamecocks. He’ll be a redshirt sophomore next fall. Reports indicate he will visit LSU and Auburn this week. LSU lost Kylin Jackson to the portal. DaShawn Spears remains on the roster. Major Burns is moving on, and Sage Ryan will have a decision to make. Either way, LSU has to play better at safety in 2025, and they’ll undoubtedly shop in the portal for some help there. That search starts with Poyser.

 

Barion Brown, Wide Receiver, Kentucky

  • Brown has track speed and has used it to set the Kentucky record for kickoff return touchdowns. He’s never been a truly polished receiver. Some of that has been a Kentucky offense that has been clunky for years. But Brown has some work to do on the technical side. LSU is woefully short on bodies at wide receiver. Zavion Thomas and Aaron Anderson are back, and Kyle Parker is recovering from a triceps injury. Then there’s Chris Hilton. Brown does a lot of the same things as Thomas and Hilton, so the fit may be questionable. His talent is not. He can really run.

Ja’Keem Jackson, Cornerback, Florida

  • Jackson was a starter for Florida this year before suffering a season ending injury in Week 2. Coming out of high school, Jackson was rated a four-star recruit and Top 50 player nationally by 247Sports. He signed with Florida while Corey Raymond was handling the cornerbacks. Raymond has returned to LSU and would like to add Jackson to this roster.

Bauer Sharp, Tight End, Oklahoma

  • If you’re an LSU fan, the only thing you’ll remember about Sharp is his ill-fated decision to wing the ball skyward in the second half of the Oklahoma-LSU game last week. He’s a very toolsy player at tight end, standing 6-foot-5 and weighing in over 240 lbs. Those tools weren’t necessarily on display in Norman playing in the SEC’s worst offense. Sharp is familiar with south Louisiana having played three seasons at Southeastern Louisiana. Hasz is probably the better option, but it doesn’t hurt to have a backup plan.

Kameron Olds, Defensive End, Kent State

  • Olds transferred to Kent State from Buffalo, and he blossomed into a really productive rusher with the Golden Flashes. He finished the season with 30 pressures and seven sacks.

 

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