The LSU Tigers are seeing a shocking departure as freshman guard Bella Hines enters the transfer portal.
The LSU Tigers women's basketball program thought that they would be getting everyone back, but that is not the case. Talented youngster Bella Hines is entering the portal, per On3's Talia Goodman.
Just a few days ago, Kim Mulkey said that after doing exit interviews, she felt like everyone but Divine Bourrage was coming back. It felt like it was too good to be true, and it is.
Hines joins Bourrage and Kailyn Gilbert as the newest and biggest loss to the portal yet. She didn't get a ton of playtime as a freshman, but her workload increased as the season went on, and she felt like she was primed for a huge role on next year's squad.
The New Mexico native averaged 4.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists per night as a freshman on 44.9/37.3/55.0 shooting splits.
The most exciting thing about her game was the potential to be a lethal sniper from deep. That's something that the Tigers have really lacked since Mulkey came over. Hines had three games with at least three makes and shot at least 66.7% in all of them.
She fought hard in LSU's first loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks. It was a moment that won her the respect of a lot of Tigers fans and coaches. This will be a loss that could hurt when looking back at this time next year.
One school that makes a ton of early sense for her is the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, where her former assistant coach, Gary Redus, is trying to build a winning program. The two were close, and she'd clearly be an important piece over there.