NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — We should commend the job that Jay Johnson, Kim Mulkey, Brian Kelly and other LSU coaches have done with balancing traditional and transfer portal recruiting.
The LSU baseball team had eight players from the state of Louisiana – four from the New Orleans metro area – on the field in Game 3 of the College World Series final.
Players like Dylan Crews, Jordan Thompson, Ty Floyd, Jared Jones were recruited out of high school. But we can all agree they don’t win a national title without Thatcher Hurd, Riley Cooper, Tommy White and Paul Skenes.
Kim Mulkey had a roster littered with transfers win a national title, and the top recruiting class in 2023 features Parkway’s Mikaylah Williams – the top high school player in the country – and the top recruit in the transfer portal – Hailey van Lith.
Brian Kelly and the football program have a great mix of talent expected to compete for a national title this fall.
My point is, for all the criticisms the portal has drawn in recent years, LSU has used it to their advantage to return to the national championship spotlight while keeping in-state talent home the best they can.
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