In the span of a day, LSU has lost its starting backcourt from the 2021-22 season. Guard Xavier Pinson became the second player to enter his name in the transfer portal per On3sports Billy Embody, joining freshman guard Brandon Murray.
Pinson, who still has one year of graduate transfer eligibility left because of the COVID season, will be looking for his third program in as many years. He spent the first three seasons of his career at Missouri before transferring to Baton Rouge last season.
Very quickly his role expanded, particularly after guard Adam Miller suffered a season ending ACL injury. As the lead guard for the Tigers, Pinson would average 9.8 points and 4.8 assists per game but only shot 36.5% from the floor.
A sprained knee suffered at the beginning of SEC play sidelined Pinson for several weeks before he was ultimately able to return, but never really got into a rhythm, something he admitted following the Tigers tournament exit. A veteran player, it would’ve been just as understandable to see Pinson begin his professional career but instead he’ll look for the next college opportunity.
There are still several young players on this roster who could take a similar route, including Efton Reid, Adam Miller, Mwani Wilkinson, Alex Fudge, Justice Williams and Eric Gaines. The job for coach Matt McMahon is to hopefully get started on convincing some of the core of this group to stick around and make his pitch on why LSU is the right place.
"That's the most important thing here and we've hit the ground running," McMahon said. "We're gonna invest a lot of time with our players. I want people who want to be here, want people who want to be a part of something special because that's what we're gonna build here. My favorite part of the job is not only seeing the best player they can be but the best man they can be. It's my responsibility to grow leaders here at LSU and that's what we're gonna work to do."
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