LSU has lost its first four players from the Will Wade era. Transfer Sophomore Adam Miller has entered the transfer portal, as reported by Jeff Goodman of Stadium. Freshman guard Brandon Murray and graduate Xavier Pinson have both announced that they are entering the transfer portal last Thursday. Shareef O’Neal announced that he has entered the portal on Monday as first reported by Goodman. Under new head coach Matt McMahon and with the expected sanctions coming up it is expected that they will not be the last players to leave the team.
Xavier Pinson will now be going to his third college in his career, after coming to LSU from Missouri in the 2021 offseason. He was a key part of the run that LSU made to begin the season and his injury derailed the progress that the team had made. When he came back, the team started to perform better, but never got back into that rhythm. Pinson averaged 28.1 minutes a game scoring 9.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.9 steals.
Freshman Brandon Murray came to the team and immediately contributed, exceeding some expectations. Murray was a four-star recruit out of Baltimore, MD. He was a defensive anchor throughout the year. He averaged 10 points, 3 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.1 steals. He was named to the SEC All-Freshman team. He started 32 of 34 games this season.
Shareef O’Neal is the latest player to leave the team, much to the shock of the LSU community. Many believed that O’Neal was the most likely to stay with the team, given his families connection to the school and his best opportunity for playtime yet. O’Neal committed to UCLA out of high school and spent two years there before transferring to LSU. He has battled health issues his entire career, and will search for another opportunity to make an impact before his time in college comes to an end.
Adam Miller transferred to LSU from Illinois before the 2021-2022 season, but never played for the team due to a leg injury before the season started. He was a highly regarded transfer, but was never able to put on the uniform.