BATON ROUGE - The Portal King makes it official: LSU head coach Jay Johnson announced the signing of five high-level transfers that will join the Tigers for the 2023 season. 

The transfer class will include right-handed pitcher Christian Little of Vanderbilt; third baseman Tommy White of NC State; shortstop Carter Young of Vanderbilt; right-handed pitcher Thatcher Hurd of UCLA; and right-handed pitcher/utility player Paul Skenes of Air Force.

"All five are great talents and solid people that will blend well with our returning players and incoming recruiting class in ability, chemistry and program fit," Johnson said.

Christian Little played two seasons for the Commodores, where he made 32 appearances and posted a 4.65 ERA with 95 strikeouts.

Tommy "Tanks" White is coming off an incredible freshman season at NC State, where he was named the ACC Freshman of the Year, hitting an average of .362 with 85 hits, 12 doubles, 27 home runs, 74 RBIs and a .757 slugging percentage, setting the NCAA freshman record for homers in a season. 

Shortstop Carter Young blasted a team-high of 16 homers and drove in 52 runs in 2021.

Former Bruin Thatcher Hurd posted a 2-0 record with a 1.06 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 34 innings as a freshman.

Finally, Paul Skenes recorded a 2.96 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 85.2 innings, limiting opponents to a .224 batting average. He also hit .314 with 10 doubles, 13 homers and 38 RBI. In 2021, Skenes posted a 2.70 ERA while batting .410 with 11 homers and 43 RBI.

The Tigers are scheduled to report to campus by mid-August, and fall semester classes begin at LSU on Monday, August 22.