LSU F Tari Eason declares for 2022 NBA Draft

Tari Eason will enter his name into the 2022 NBA Draft after a breakout, award-winning season at LSU.

The 6-foot-8, 216-pound forward announced his decision Friday afternoon via his Instagram and Twitter accounts.

Eason transferred from Cincinnati late last spring and averaged a team-high 16.9 points and 6.6 rebounds during an All-SEC First Team year in Baton Rouge.

The Los Angeles, Calif., native and former Garfield (Seattle) star also earned the conference's Sixth Man of the Year honors for his role as a spark off the bench in 29 of his 33 appearances.

Eason also averaged 1.9 steals, 1.1 blocked shots and 1.0 assists this season and made 190 of his 365 (52.1%) field goals, 28 of his 78 (35.9%) of his 3-point attempts and 151 of his 188 (80.3%) of his free throws.

Several outlets have ranked him as a likely first-round selection, as high as No. 9 by Tankathon, or borderline first/second-round pick, at No. 31 for NBADraft.net.

The NBA Draft Combine is scheduled for May 16-22 in Chicago.

The draft is scheduled June 23 in Brooklyn.

Eason joins guards Brandon Murray and Xavier Pinson, who announced their transfer intentions Thursday, as the first Tigers to announce their plans for what figures to be an offseason of major transition in Baton Rouge.

The university terminated coach Will Wade and associate head coach Bill Armstrong on March 12 after receiving a notice of allegations from the NCAA earlier that week.

LSU announced and introduced Matt McMahon, who led Murray State the past seven seasons, this week as the program's next coach.

No. 9 — Tankathon (big board)

No. 13 — USA Today (latest mock draft to Atlanta)

No. 14 — The Ringer (big board)

No. 15 — ESPN (big board)

No. 15 — NBC Sports (latest mock draft to Oklahoma City)

No. 18 — USA Today (big board)

No. 18 — CBS Sports (latest mock draft to Minnesota)

No. 24 — Sports Illustrated (big board)

No. 30 — NBADraft.net (mock draft to Oklahoma City)

No. 31 — NBADraft.net (big board)