LSU LB transfer Xavier Atkins commits to Auburn

Former LSU linebacker Xavier Atkins has committed to Auburn out of the NCAA transfer portal.

Atkins played in five games totaling 31 snaps for LSU during his true freshman season in 2024. He’ll look to compete for playing time in Auburn’s defensive unit right away in 2025.

Atkins was a highly-touted recruit out of high school, coming in as a four-star recruit in the 2024 recruiting class according to the On3 Industry Rankings, which is a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. He was the No. 24 linebacker and No. 309 player overall.

Atkins enters an Auburn Tigers program that finished 5-7 overall under second-year head coach Hugh Freeze. They are 11-14 overall under his guidance, meaning 2025 will be a pivotal season for Freeze and his coaching staff.

After failing to reach a bowl game for the second time in three seasons, Atkins will look to help lead the Tigers back to the postseason.

They played in the Music City Bowl after the 2023 season, but ultimately came out on the losing end of that matchup. Before that, Auburn had been to eight-straight bowl games dating back to the 2013 BCS National Championship game.

For LSU, they finished the regular season 8-4 after being ranked as high as No. 8 in the country during the season. They’ll play Baylor in the Kinder’s Texas Bowl on New Year’s Eve.

The portal officially opened on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. More than 2,800 FBS scholarship players entered their names into the NCAA’s transfer database during the 2023-24 school year. Removing those who withdrew or went pro, the final total sat at 2,707 transfers.

That means roughly 25 percent of all FBS scholarship players hit free agency in one year, per On3’s Pete Nakos.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire.
The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.