LSU football staff plans to take coveted defensive tackle transfer Jay Veer Suggs on official visit, ramping up efforts to acquire one of the top transfer candidates in the portal is.
On Wednesday, the Tigers' defensive line coach Bo Davis and others called and made an offer to Grand Valley State University.
He will now head to Baton Rouge for an official visit.
Suggs is nearing the stage of choosing between several blue-chip programs and plans to arrive in Death Valley on Sunday and stay for several days.
Suggs has received a lot of interest since entering the NCAA transfer portal last month. The highly coveted defensive tackle has made several visits recently, including visits to Michigan State, Florida State and the University of Southern California.
This week, Suggs announced his top six schools, consisting of USC, Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida State, Arkansas and Kentucky.
Now, he has revised the finalists, with LSU joining Wisconsin, Michigan and Kentucky for the spot.
LSU has entered the mix in a big way since extending its offer. While it's clear that the purple and gold are active in the second half, there are some connections between Suggs and LSU head coach Brian Kelly.
What is the connection between Suggs and the LSU Tigers?
Kelly spent several years as the head coach at Grand Valley State University. propel the program to a pair of Division II national championships. Another interesting tidbit is that Kelly's youngest son, Kenzel, is on the coaching staff at Grand Valley State University, where he spent the 2023 season alongside Suggs.
There is a relationship between the two, and LSU will continue to work to acquire the coveted defensive tackle on-campus before a decision is made, but Suggs will announce his top six schools on Tuesday. After that, the Tigers will have significant ground to make up.
The Michigan native has two seasons of eligibility remaining at his next destination after spending five years at Grand Valley State University. Suggs redshirted his first season with the program, and the upcoming 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 6-foot-3, 282-pounder had 21 tackles, seven lost tackles, three sacks, five pass breakups and one forced fumble for the 2022 program.
The following season, 2023, Suggs continued to perform consistently, recording 21 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 5 sacks, 4 pass breakups, and 1 forced fumble.
Suggs has been a consistent contributor at the Division II level, but now he's ready to take it to the next level at a Power 4 school. There has been interest from several blue-chip programs, with LSU being the most recent entrant.
LSU also has another target on its radar. Brandon Lane by Stephen F. Austin
Brian Kelly and others reportedly reached out to Stephen F. Austin after restarting the recruiting process for defensive tackle Brandon Lane. On3 Sports' Pete Nakos first reported LSU's interest.
Lane recently decommitted to Michigan State, but is now back on the market, with a number of programs targeting the highly sought-after defensive tackle.
It was clear that LSU needed reinforcements up front, and Lane was another option on the big board.
Lane started to build up again in 2023 with Stephen F. Austin, recording 44 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks.
Along with LSU, several Power Four programs came to his attention as he went through the recruiting process.
More LSU news:
Big Board: Who are the Tigers chasing in the transfer portal?
Brian Kelly: 'We're not in the market to buy players' following LSU's portal issues
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