By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
That was fast.
One day after Notre Dame fifth-year senior edge rusher Junior Tuihalamaka entered the transfer portal, following recent court rulings giving college athletes who signed in 2022 a fifth year of eligibility in the 2026 season, he has committed to LSU football coach Lane Kiffin.
But that commitment could be moot after earlier news on Friday from another courtroom that rendered those fifth years for 2022 signees negated previous rulings. Stay tuned.
Tuihalamaka (6-foot-2, 255 pounds) played in 12 games with three starts last season for the Fighting Irish and made 12 tackles with one sack. He had three sacks through 16 games and three starts in the 2024 season. He was the No. 190 overall prospect for the class of 2022 out of Mission Hills High in the Los Angeles area as well as the No. 14 linebacker and No. 13 player in California.
NEWS: Notre Dame transfer defensive end Junior Tuihalamaka has committed to LSU, per his agent Noah Reisenfeld of 21 Sports & Entertainment. Tuihalamaka is eligible for a fifth year of college football from the state court ruling in Louisiana on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/ILB4hJ1trV
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 21, 2026
LSU lost one of its top edge rushers in redshirt sophomore Gabe Reliford for the season last spring to an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury. Kiffin may have considering adding Jack Pyburn, who was a senior edge rusher last season who can also play college football in 2026 as a result of recent court rulings.
The NCAA recently changed a rule that allows athletes who began their college careers in 2023 to play five seasons in five years, as opposed to four seasons in five years by the former rule. College athletes across all sports, including Tuihalamaka and Pyburn, who began their college careers in 2022, have sued the NCAA to also get that fifth season. And judges have been ruling in their favor for an extra year.
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