By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
Ole Miss true freshman transfer wide receiver Winston Watkins is reuniting with his former head coach Lane Kiffin to play for LSU.
Just two days after entering the NCAA Transfer Portal, Watkins announced his commitment to the Tigers late on Sunday night following a weekend visit to Baton Rouge.
Watkins (5-foot-11, 185 pounds) is not ranked in the portal by 247sports.com, but he showed some promise in 2025 with 26 catches for 373 yards and a touchdown for the Rebels, who finished 13-2. Kiffin went 11-1 overall and 7-1 in the Southeastern Conference in the regular season before leaving for LSU.
Ole Miss reached the semifinals of the College Football Playoff before losing on Thursday to Miami.
BREAKING: Ole Miss true freshman transfer WR Winston Watkins Jr. has Committed to LSU, he tells @On3sports
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) January 12, 2026
Watkins totaled 26 receptions for 373 yards and 1 TD in 2025 (14.3 YPC)https://t.co/RlUbB6EMhS pic.twitter.com/s3RZew9hKx
In week nine, Watkins was named SEC Freshman of the Week after he caught four passes for 111 yards in the Rebels’ 34-26 win at No. 9 Oklahoma.
Watkins was ranked as the No. 31 prep wide receiver in the nation in 2025 out of Venice High in Fort Myers, Florida. He is the first Ole Miss player from the 2025 season to follow Kiffin to LSU so far. He is LSU’s 24th portal addition.
LSU TRANSFER PORTAL COMMITMENTS AND/OR SIGNEES (24)
No. 2 Safety Ty Benefield of Boise State
No. 9 Defensive Lineman Stephiylan Green of Clemson
No. 10 Wide Receiver Eugene “Tre” Wilson III of Florida
No. 11 Defensive Lineman Malik Blocton of Auburn
No. 14 Edge Jordan Ross of Tennessee
No. 22 Wide Receiver Jayce Brown of Kansas State
No. 25 Wide Receiver Tre Brown III of Old Dominion
No. 34 Tight End Malachi Thomas of Pittsburgh
No. 35 Wide Receiver Jackson Harris of Hawaii
No. 75 Quarterback Landen Clark of Elon
No. 79 Running Back Raycine Guillory of Utah
No. 129 Wide Receiver Tyree Holloway of West Florida
No. 174 Wide Receiver Josh Jackson of McNeese
Unranked Wide Receiver Winston Watkins of Ole Miss
Unranked Edge Achilles Woods of South Alabama
Unranked Center William Satterwhite of Tennessee
Unranked Safety Treylan James of Southern
Unranked Wide Receiver Malik Elzy of Illinois
Unranked Offensive Tackle Ja’Quan Sprinkle of North Carolina Central
Unranked Defensive Lineman Jaylen Brown of South Carolina
Unranked Running Back Rod Gainey Jr. of Charlotte
Unranked Punter Hayden Craig of Florida
Unranked Long Snapper Mack Mulhern of Florida
Unranked Kicker Scott Starzyk of Arkansas
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