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The clouded future of LSU tight end Arik Gilbert is a little clearer today. The freshman and former five-star recruit is officially in the transfer portal, according to Matt Zenitz of AL.com. Gilbert previously announced on his Twitter account that he was entering the transfer portal, a little less than a month after he chose to opt out of the remainder of the season, before deleting the tweet. 

Gilbert's future with LSU has been up in the air for a while. 247Sports reported in December that Gilbert had missed practice and was considering leaving the program with a desire to return to his home state of Georgia "for the remainder of the season," though it was expected that Orgeron and the LSU staff would continue to make their case to the talented tight end to remain with the program moving forward. That still appears to be the case as LSU has reportedly not yet canceled Gilbert's financial aid, which can happen sometimes when a player decided to enter the portal. 

But it seems as though Gilbert has made up his mind and it's a big loss for the Tigers. Prior to opting out, Gilbert, the 2020 National High School Gatorade Player of the Year, had caught 35 passes for 368 yards (10.5 average) and two touchdowns. For the 2020 recruiting class, 247Sports Composite rankings had Gilbert listed as the top tight end recruit, the No. 5 overall recruit and the top tight end prospect ever in the site's history.