LSU RB John Emery Jr. signs with UTSA

Former LSU RB John Emery Jr. has signed with UTSA from the NCAA Transfer Portal. That comes per reporting by On3’s Pete Nakos on Monday.

Emery decided this spring that he would return for his seventh season of collegiate eligibility this fall but not to Baton Rouge. With that, he entered the portal almost a month ago now at the opening of the cycle.

Emery spent six seasons in total and five seasons playing for the Tigers in appearing in 38 games mostly as a reserve back. He has 223 rushes in that career for 1,123 yards, at 29.6 per game and 5.0 per rush, and 14 touchdowns. He also caught 37 passes for 330 yards and a pair of other scores.

However, several things kept him off the field during his time at Louisiana State. He missed all of 2021 and the first two games of 2022 due to suspension for academic reasons. He has now torn his ACL twice now, once in 2023 and then again coming out of the opener in 2024, as he appeared in only eight games his final two years with the program. Between those lost seasons to injury as well as the additional year from the pandemic, Emery will have a seventh and final season of eligibility to play with his commitment now to the Roadrunners.

That’s after Emery, a native of St. Rose, Louisiana, played high school football at Destrehan. He was the No. 12 overall recruit there as a five-star prospect in the 2019 cycle. He also rated as the No. 2 RB in the class, behind only Trey Sanders, and as the No. 2 player out of Louisiana, after only CB Derek Stingley. That’s according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Now, Emery was one of the top available running backs left in the portal. He was, per the latest update to On3’s Industry Ranking of 2025’s Top Transfer Portal Players, in the Top-1,700 overall as the No. 130 RB.

Emery is the latest of double-digit additions, and one of a third of those who have committed this spring, for UTSA. He’s the fifth commitment for them of this cycle and the second running back along with A’Marion Peterson (USC).

After winning a national title, Emery did not have a career that worked out, mostly due to off-field issues both in and out of his control, at LSU. He’ll now have one last run at it in college with this commitment to start the week to UTSA.

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.