College football roster management turned upside down when a federal court order temporarily froze NCAA eligibility limits. The ruling gave 16 players from the 2022 recruiting class an unexpected fifth year of college ball and an immediate green light to enter the transfer portal. Former Notre Dame pass rusher Junior Tuihalamaka suddenly found himself with a second chance at college football.
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Tuihalamaka spent four solid years in South Bend as a core rotational linebacker and edge defender. When the court decision dropped, Fighting Irish fans immediately wondered if head coach Marcus Freeman would bring him back to strengthen Notre Dame’s defense. Freeman did not beat around the bush and shut that door immediately.
“No,” the Fighting Irish head honcho said when asked whether he’d consider the idea of bringing Tuihalamaka. “We—I haven’t talked to him, but, you know, for us right here at Notre Dame, we just—it’s just too late in the graduate admissions process, and I don’t think it would put a person in a good situation this late. You know, school starts on Monday to have success in the classroom and on the field, and so that’s kind of been our stance with it.”
South Bend’s strict academic calendar meant the Irish were not going to alter their fall roster for late portal entries. Realizing the door in Indiana was locked, Tuihalamaka and his agent Noah Reisenfeld acted within hours to explore alternative programs ready to take a veteran pass rusher.
Less than 24 hours after entering the emergency portal window on Thursday, Tuihalamaka officially committed to the LSU Tigers on Friday. He announced on Instagram that he is headed to Baton Rouge for “one more run” in the SEC, looking to reset his draft stock after a late Pro Day injury had muted his initial NFL interest.
This is an unexpected dub for the LSU Tigers. Junior Tuihalamaka played in about 54 games and racked up 61 career stops alongside 4.5 sacks.
He was also named to the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Watch List back in 2024. That season, he registered a career-high 33 tackles and three sacks during the team’s playoff run.
This rare extra season is a lifeline for Tuihalamaka after how his NFL Draft journey turned out.
After exhausting his original eligibility, he entered the 2026 NFL Draft process. Unfortunately, he suffered a devastating pectoral injury right in the middle of his workouts at Notre Dame’s March Pro Day.
Because of that terrible timing, the NFL teams weren’t ready to gamble their picks on him. Since he never signed an official NFL roster contract or took any pro snaps, he was perfectly positioned to jump on this legal escape hatch.
There were tons of schools ready to offer him until Lane Kiffin came in clutch with an offer he couldn’t refuse. After all, one man’s trash is truly another man’s gold.
And quite honestly, the Tigers needed it way more than the Irish did. One of LSU’s top defensive ends, Gabriel Reliford, tore his ACL during spring practice and will miss the entire 2026 season.
Marcus Freeman made his boundary clear in South Bend, choosing roster continuity and academic cutoffs over a late return. That hard line gave LSU exactly what it needed: a veteran pass rusher with something to prove, getting one final chance to repair his draft status on college football’s biggest stage.