LSU G Justice Williams, F Bradley Ezewiro enter transfer portal
The exodus from LSU's basketball roster to the transfer portal continued to pick up pace Wednesday morning.
Forward Bradley Ezewiro and guard Justice Williams became the latest Tigers to open the door to a departure from Baton Rouge.
The freshmen join guards Brandon Murray and Xavier Pinson on Thursday, forward Shareef O'Neal on Monday and center Jerrell Colbert and guard Adam Miller on Tuesday to bring the total two seven players in the portal.
Forward Tari Eason also announced Friday his decision to declare for this summer's NBA Draft.
The 6-foot-8, 246-pound Ezewiro appeared in seven games and averaged 1.8 points and 0.9 rebounds in limited minutes.
The 6-foot-4, 170-pound Williams appeared in 20 games, including one start, and 1.7 points and 0.8 rebounds.
Those eight players accounted for 3,008 of the Tigers' 6,850 minutes (43.9%) this past season, with further departures still expected.
Forward Darius Days would have an additional season of eligibility if desired, because of the NCAA's blanket COVID waiver in 2020, but has played four seasons for the program, previously tested the NBA Draft waters and celebrated this season as a senior.
Sophomores Mwani Wilkinson and Eric Gaines and freshmen Efton Reid III and Alex Fudge are the only other Tigers to have appeared in more than five games or played more than 26 minutes this past season.
LSU received a notice of allegations from the NCAA's Complex Case Case Unit two weeks ago and terminated coach Will Wade and associate head coach Bill Armstrong days later.
A full scope of what further recruiting, roster or postseason sanctions or restrictions could affect the program remains to undetermined.
The university announced the hiring of Matt McMahon on Monday and held an introductory press conference last Wednesday.
The former Murray State coach repeatedly emphasized his priority on building relationships with players, including when asked about "re-recruiting" members of the current roster to potentially remain in Baton Rouge.
"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."
So far, McMahon and the Tigers have added Northwestern State center Kendal Coleman and Murray State guard Justice Hill as they begin rebuilding the roster for 2022.