GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
So, Houston safety AJ Haulcy must be incredible, because LSU coach Brian Kelly is recruiting him out of the NCAA Transfer Portal.
Haulcy’s nickname is “Give Me That,” because of his ability to intercept passes. He picked off five last season for the Cougars (4-8, 3-6 Big 12) as a junior and was a first team selection to the All-Big 12 team. He also had 13 pass breakups and 74 tackles. Haulcy is the No. 179 portal prospect overall and the No. 6 safety. The top five have found schools, so he is the No. 1 safety remaining.
Ole Miss and Miami are also recruiting Haulcy, who was reportedly visiting Miami on Monday. So, which program will have the most of “that” in its respective Name, Image & Likeness cash war chests for Haulcy?
As spring football practice was ending two weeks ago, Kelly said he wouldn’t be surprised if he lost no one to the portal or gained no one from it. He added two caveats – one was he had no control over a playing entering the portal and leaving, and two was if an available prospect stood out, he would try to add him.
He has since lost one scholarship player to the portal – freshman signee and early enrollee Dilan Battle, who was a three-star prospect in the class of 2025 as the No. 82 defensive tackle in the nation and Texas’ No. 110 prospect from Mansfield Timberview High in Arlington. He went through spring practice before entering the portal.
And Kelly signed one in No. 4 defensive tackle Bernard Gooden (49th overall prospect in the portal) from South Florida last week, and wants to sign Haulcy.
“If something shows itself that is an incredible opportunity,” Kelly said two weeks ago, “we’re certainly going to investigate any time that we can help our football team. But it’s not like it was in January.”
That was when Kelly was in desperation mode to fill his roster following a disappointing 8-4 regular season. And then he, his staff and LSU’s Name, Image & Likeness personnel and strategies signed 16 portal players for a No. 1 transfer class ranking by 247sports.com. That ranking dipped to No. 4, but returned to No. 1 just last week with the addition of Gooden. On3.com has LSU’s class at No. 3.
LSU’s NUMBER ONE TRANSFER PORTAL CLASS – 17 (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.
“I like our roster right now,” Kelly said previously. “It wouldn’t surprise me if we didn’t have anybody in the portal on either side – either leaving our program or adding.”
Now, he likes it more and possibly will even more.
Haulcy started 24 games over the last two seasons at Houston. In 2023 during a 4-8 and 2-7 season with the Cougars, he made a team-high 98 tackles with 73 solo – the most for a Houston player since 2018. He signed in 2022 with New Mexico as a three-star prospect from Fort Bend Marshall High in Missouri City, Texas. Haulcy was the No. 150 safety in the country and No. 266 prospect in Texas.
In 2022, Haulcy played in 12 games for New Mexico (2-10, 0-8 Mountain West Conference) with nine starts and had two interceptions and two fumble recoveries while making 87 tackles. Haulcy played against LSU that season, losing 38-0 in Tiger Stadium. He made a career-high 24 tackles in a 41-9 loss at home to Fresno State that year.
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