LSU's Bella Hines makes surprise decision to enter Transfer Portal

LSU head coach Kim Mulkey said this past week only one players was set to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal on Tuesday, but that turned out not to be the case.

The expectation was Divine Bourrage, who had already announced her intentions to transfer, would have her name entered into the portal database when it opened on Tuesday.

That turned out to be true.

“You cannot understand the value of having all of them come back,” Mulkey told Doucet. “That’s how you build it. That’s how you get over that hump of an Elite Eight. When you look at those that are coming back — freshman, freshman, sophomore, junior sophomore — and look how much they did this year.

“And so, man, if they come back, they stay together, they play together. That’s how you build it. That’s the way it’s supposed to be done, so I am blessed that all of those great players are coming back.”

Unfortunately for Mulkey and the staff, the remaining players didn’t all come back.

LSU freshman standout Bella Hines surprised Tigers fans when she announced her decision to enter the transfer portal, her agent Daveed Cohen of Young Money APAA Sports told On3.

The 5-10 combo guard out of Albuquerque averaged 4.2 points per game this season with the Tigers, though she saw an uptick in playing time – and impact on the court – in the latter part of the 2025-26 season.

“Thank you to Coach Mulkey and the entire coaching staff for believing in me and helping me grow every day,” Hines shared in a message on Instagram. “To my teammates, thank you for the memories, the battles, and the sisterhood I’ll always cherish. Baton Rouge, thank you for embracing me and making this journey feel like home, and to the LSU fans, your love and support meant everything to me. I’ll always be grateful for this chapter and the memories we created together. 💜💛 #3”

Hines was ranked as the No. 24 recruit in the nation out of high school and was named Player of the Year in New Mexico for two consecutive years.

While playing as a freshman at LSU this past season, Hines appeared in 33 games, closing out the season averaging 4.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.

Hines logged double-digit scoring games four times, including a season high 14 points against Southeastern Louisiana in November. Her career high 10 rebounds came against Jacksonville in the NCAA Tournament’s opening round on March 20.

Hines averaged 13 minutes per game off the bench, with her most minutes played coming in the NCAA Tournament game against Jacksonville when she was on the court for more than 25 minutes. Her most notable stat from her lone season at LSU: Hines led LSU’s team with 28 charges taken.

While LSU loses one of the program’s most accomplished and celebrated players in senior Flau’jae Johnson, the highest-scoring offense in the country had two other players who averaged at least 14 points per game in Mikaylah Williams and Milaysia Fulwiley.

Both have one more year of eligibility remaining.

And, in addition to a returning starter at point guard in Jada Richard, a returning starter at guard/forward in ZaKiyah Johnson, and the team’s biggest post player in Kate Koval, Mulkey and Co. proved to have a deep and talented bench that featured a breakout star in true freshman Grace Knox.

Toss in a former Top 100 prospect in Maryland’s Meghan Yarnevich, who appeared in 20 games as a true freshman this past season, and a McDonald’s All-American in the program’s lone high school signee Lola Lampley, and the future appears bright for an LSU program that won a National Championship in 2023 and have since made back-to-back Elite 8 appearances before this season’s early exit in the Sweet 16.

Mulkey shed light on what LSU is looking to add from the portal, circling “two or three more players” as the finishing touches on top of the roster already in place.

LSU assistant Bob Starkey said the staff’s hope is to add one to two post players and depth at the point guard position.

The NCAA Transfer Portal window, which opened on Nov. 7, is a 14-day stretch as the lone portal window of the basketball offseason.