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 committed to LSU football coach Lane Kiffin on Friday.
And that commitment is exempt from another courtroom ruling previously on Friday that negated fifth seasons for other 2022 signees, unless they were listed by various judges’ injunctions or temporary restraining orders. That is the case with Tuihalamaka, who as of now can play for the Tigers this season.
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.
In 2023 at Notre Dame, Tuihalamaka played in 13 games and made 10 tackles as a reserve. In his freshman season of 2022, he played in 13 games, mostly on special teams, with one start at edge and made six tackles on the season.
Going into the 2024 season, he was on the Polynesian player of the year watch list.
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