NEWS: LSU Secures Arizona DL Paris Shand Via Portal

Shand adds depth up front moving forward, commits to Tigers fresh off of official visit.

LSU secured the commitment of Arizona defensive lineman Paris Shand on Tuesday evening, he announced via social media. 

Shand, who will have two years of eligibility remaining, became the second Arizona defensive lineman the Tigers offered in the transfer portal.

Brian Kelly and defensive line coach Jamar Cain have been on a tear over the last seven days, also offering Shand’s teammate Kyon Barrs, who ultimately committed to USC. 

For Shand, the 6-foot-5, 290-pound menace from Toronto, Ontario had a solid run while in Tucson with the Wildcats. In his sophomore campaign with Arizona, he totaled 39 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, four sacks, forced two fumbles and recovered one.

As a freshman in 2021, he recorded 6 tackles, two tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and two quarterback hurries.

A Gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials. #geauxtigers🐯 pic.twitter.com/5b2uCspBuh

— Paris Shand (@ParisShand) December 21, 2022

LSU Will Add Defensive Linemen via Transfer Portal

With both Jaquelin Roy and BJ Ojulari declaring for the 2023 NFL Draft, the Tigers went out and added three of the top players in the portal at the defensive line position, but what's next?

Maason Smith returning, Mekhi Wingo looking to take an even bigger role next year, Quency Wiggins stepping in and a few more talented guys up front, this unit will need a couple of savvy veterans.

Jamar Cain has proven to be one of the top recruiters in the country at the defensive line position. How will he utilize the portal this month? LSU has dished out an offer to Western Michigan defensive tackle Braden Fiske already.

Fiske has played five years of college football, but remains with one final year of eligibility. He finished the 2022 season with 58 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, six sacks, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, seven quarterback hurries and three pass breakups. For his collegiate career, he’s tallied 148 tackles, 27.5 tackles for loss and 13.5 sacks across his career.

Brian Kelly’s Transfer Portal Message:

“They have got to be the right fit first,” Kelly said. “They have to recognize the value of an education from LSU. They have to have the right traits. We are not just open for business. We’re not just putting a sign up saying, hey, we are going to take whoever. They have to be the right fit. I prefer that they are from the state of Louisiana if we can find them. And then we are going to address needs based upon how that freshman class marries into it by the particular needs by position class.

“So we are not going to overload a particular position group. In other words, if we have got three or four wide receivers that are freshmen coming in, you may not see a heavy influence in the portal in that position.

“We are going to develop based upon our freshman class, too. So we are doing this at the same time, and also allowing our program to be younger, too. We want to bring both of these along. We don’t always want to be a turn-it-over program where we are bringing in transfers and turning the program over.”