LSU Tigers demolish popular narrative around their baseball program after latest national championship victory under Jay Johnson

Winning a national championship in college baseball takes a ton of talent, luck, and planning. For the LSU Tigers, they just won their second one in three seasons under head coach Jay Johnson. 

The LSU roster that won it all in 2025

The Tigers were not built through the transfer portal in order to have success this season. Instead, they had some beneficial acquisitions that provided depth and filled holes here and there on their roster for 2025. Their homegrown talent and veteran leadership is what led them to winning their second title in three years.

• Steven Milam
• Jake Brown
• Jared Jones
• Chase Shores
• Kade Anderson
• Josh Pearson
• Derek Curiel
• Ethan Frey
• Casan Evans

What do all of these players have in common? They did not transfer to LSU. They've been Tigers and were recruiting wins for the staff in Baton Rouge. 

There are even more notable names to add to that list, but those stand out the most from the postseason run for LSU. 

I'm hearing LSU is a transfer portal merchant but for some reason I can't find what schools Kade Anderson, Steven Milam, Jared Jones, Casan Evans, Chase Shores, and Derek Curiel went to before they transferred to LSU. If someone can find this info, help me out.

-- Will Rosenblatt

During LSU's 2023 run as well, they had so many pieces that were on the roster to begin their college careers. 

Names like Tre Morgan, Dylan Crews, and Gavin Dugas are all examples in that case. You need both (transfer portal wins and HS recruiting wins) to find an elite status on the diamond. LSU has achieved that and wants to keep building. 

LSU's transfer portal success

In years past, LSU has found gems in the portal. That cannot be argued. Paul Skenes is the prized possession of that conversation. 

That being said, LSU's consistency on the diamond is built on who they bring in from the high school ranks and develop. They're not taking after any sort of ideal where they simply go out and spend as much in the portal to retool their rotation or batting order. 

That's simply not realistic, nor the focus for a coach like Jay Johnson. 

All in all, it will be intriguing to see who the Tigers add in the portal in the coming weeks. Other teams around the SEC and the country got a head start on them, since they were busy winning another title. I think they'll be just fine with that, though.