Texas Baseball Lands Talented SEC Outfielder From Transfer Portal

A good coaching staff knows just how important recruiting for a team to maintain its status as a perennial contender. Fortunately for the Texas Longhorns, Jim Schlossnagle is one of the best at doing just that. He knows how to retool a roster, utilizing an aggressive approach to land both high school talent and big-time names out of the transfer portal.

And on Tuesday, he and his staff struck the portal once again as they continued the success they've seen in doing so this offseason. The latest commit came in the form of outfielder Ashton Larson from LSU. Larson, after spending two seasons with the Tigers, opted for a change of scenery in 2026 and will now be calling The Forty Acres his home.

With the Tigers in 2025, Larson saw limited action during their run to a national title, as he appeared in only 34 games as a sophomore after appearing in 53 the season prior. In those 34 games the outfielder saw 39 at-bats and slashed a respectable .256/.423/.487 with three doubles, two home runs, 12 RBI and nine walks.

The Longhorns bolster an already stacked transfer portal class with the addition of Larson from LSU

However, a look at his stats from his freshman campaign in 2024 will show you exactly why this has the potential to be one of the top gets for the Longhorns from the portal. In his debut campaign with the Tigers, Larson put together a sensational .298/.401/.426 slash line with 60 total bases, nine doubles, three home runs, 22 walks and 16 RBI. While his OBP and slugging were down, he showed he could get on base consistently with a solid bat.

Beyond his already proven talent on the diamond, outfield was definitely an area where the Longhorns needed to shore up their depth. Not only did they lose Max Belyeu and portal add Kaleb Freeman to the MLB Draft, but they saw Tommy Farmer IV and Will Gasparino depart in the portal themselves.

Larson joins an already talented portal class that features key additions in Notre Dame catcher Carson Tinney and Stanford shortstop Temo Becerra. And it is highly likely that Schlossnagle and his staff are from done when it comes to bringing talent to Austin. After winning the regular season SEC crown in 2025, but coming up short of a trip to Omaha, there no doubt that they will do whatever it takes to get over that hump next year.