A pivotal LSU guard unexpectedly seeks a new home, leaving the Tigers scrambling to fill a significant void.
The LSU Tigers have gone from not losing anybody this offseason to needing to replace some young talent, as they just had another transfer portal entrant, and itwas the most surprising to date.
On3's Talia Goodman broke the news on Thursday afternoon that Tigers guard Jada Richard would be entering the transfer portal. Richard started 34 games this past season and was primed for an even bigger role next year with Flau'jae Johnson leaving.
The Opelousas, LA native averaged 9.5 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game on 44.8/40.8/88.6 shooting splits. She didn't shoot a ton of threes, but made them at a great clip when she decided to extend her range.
Seeing as though she was a local player, graduating from Lafayette Christian Academy, it always felt like a long shot to enter the portal. However, entering her junior season, she clearly feels like she needs a new environment. She should be able to put up bigger numbers on a less congested offense, which could be a reason for her departure.
Richard is also now the fourth LSU player to enter the portal, after Kim Mulkey confidently stated that everyone but Divine Bourrage would be back. In the current days of college athletics, though, anything can happen.
The Tigers are now down Richard, Bourrage, Bella Hines and Kailyn Gilbert. Those are four guards and three of them were considered young pieces for the future of this team.
Adding size to the frontcourt was already a must, but now LSU must work to figure out the depth of its backcourt as well. It'll be a busier transfer portal window than the Tigers may have expected.