By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
LSU football coach Lane Kiffin will be hosting at least four Transfer Portal prospects on Wednesday, including a pair of highly ranked Alabama players.
The two Crimson Tide players are No. 1 portal defensive lineman James Smith (6-foot-3, 297 pounds), a junior who is the No. 8 overall portal prospect, and No. 9 edge rusher Qua Russaw (6-2, 243), a redshirt sophomore who is the No. 47 portal prospect. Both are from Carver High in Montgomery, Alabama.
Smith started 11 games in 2025 at defensive tackle for Alabama, making 28 tackles with 6.5 for loss, 2.5 sacks and two quarterback hurries. In 2024, he played in 13 games and made 20 tackles with 3.5 for loss, a sack and five quarterback hurries. Smith played in nine games as a backup in 2023, making two tackles with a fumble recovery. He was the No. 5 defensive lineman in the country out of Carver in ’23, No. 3 player in Alabama and No. 41 overall prospect.
Russaw was slowed by a foot injury in 2025 as he started just three games out of eight played, making 13 tackles with a sack. In 2024, he started six games and played in 13, making 36 tackles with 2.5 for loss with a sack and two quarterback hurries. He also intercepted two passes and forced a fumble.
LSU will also be hosting No. 9 defensive lineman Malik Blocton (6-3, 291), a sophomore from Auburn, and No. 171 wide receiver Tyree Holloway (6-0, 180), a junior from West Florida. Blocton started eight games and played in 12 in 2025, making 18 tackles with 4.5 for loss and recovered a fumble. As a true freshman in 2024, he made 16 tackles with four for loss and a sack.
Holloway caught 34 passes for 661 yards and eight touchdowns in 2025 for the Argonauts.
West Florida junior wide receiver transfer Tyree Holloway is visiting #LSU today and tomorrow, his agent tells @TigerRagMedia
— Andre Champagne (@andrechampagnee) January 7, 2026
He will have dinner with the staff tonight.
Holloway caught 34 passes for 661 yards and had 8 TDs this season. pic.twitter.com/Cz7kF9wkHb
Another expected visitor to LSU this week is No 30 safety Scooter Jackson (6-1, 185), a junior from UCLA who had 44 tackles, one forced fumble, three pass breakups and two interceptions last season.
Meanwhile, No. 52 wide receiver Iverson Hooks, a redshirt junior from Alabama-Birmingham who was scheduled to visit LSU this week, will not be doing so. Instead, Iverson is off to Arkansas as LSU has gained commitments from higher ranked receivers.
TIGERS ADD PUNTER AND LONG SNAPPER
LSU added its 10th and 11th commitments for the 2026 NCAA Transfer Portal class on Wednesday with redshirt freshman punter Hayden Craig and redshirt freshman long snapper Mack Mulhern of Florida. Craig (6-1, 208), who punted at Bridgton Academy in Mercier, Quebec, in Canada, did not play for the Gators in 2025. He was a three-star prospect out of high school and the No. 7 punter in the nation by 247sports.com
Craig is expected to be a backup as sophomore Grant Chadwick finished sixth in the Southeastern Conference last season with a 45.7-yard punt average. Chadwick transferred to LSU before the 2025 season from Middle Tennessee.
Mulhern (6-0, 225) is from Horizon High in Scottsdale, Arizona. He also did not play as a freshman at Florida in 2025.
Both are following their special teams coach from Florida to LSU. Joe Houston was the Gators’ special teams coach in 2025 and was hired by Kiffin as the Tigers’ special teams coach.
LSU OUTGOING TRANSFER UPDATE
Sophomore quarterback Michael Van Buren will transfer to South Florida after one season at LSU. Two other LSU players who entered the portal have landed – redshirt sophomore starting left tackle Tyree Adams at Texas A&M and redshirt freshman reserve receiver Kylan Billiot at James Madison.
(Tiger Rag Editor Glenn Guilbeau contributed to this report.)
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