Texas Football: 5 former 5-Star recruits to pursue in the portal this year

Palaie Gaoteote IV, LB

A well-known transfer portal target at this point and one that looks like he will eventually be taking his talents to Texas is the former USC five-star linebacker recruit and Bishop Gorman product Palaie Gaoteote IV. As the second straight former Trojan on this list, this could be a solid ground for Sark to add to his program.

Gaoteote would be the fifth addition to the linebackers/edge rushers for the Longhorns this offseason. That would likely do it to round out that position group. While Texas did sustain heavy losses at the linebacker position so far this offseason, five additions out of the portal to just this one spot should be more than enough.

And Gaoteote would be an excellent way for the Longhorns to round things out here. When he was healthy for the Trojans, he was one of their more gifted and productive linebackers. In 17 career games played at USC, Gaoteote registered 105 combined tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, and no interceptions, forced fumbles, or fumble recoveries.

Last fall, Gaoteote only got to play in two games for the Trojans before an injury ended things for him.

Coming out of Bishop Gorman during the 2018 recruiting cycle, Gaoteote ranked as the nation’s No. 15 high school prospect, and the top overall inside linebacker and prospect out of Nevada (247Sports Composite). He also ranks as one of the top 350 high school prospects in the modern era of 247Sports Composite rankings.