LSU guard Justice Williams enters NCAA Transfer Portal
LSU guard Justice Williams entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, On3 learned on Thursday. He’ll have three years of eligibility remaining.
Williams had seven starts in 23 games for the Tigers this season, the first under head coach Matt McMahon. He averaged 3.3 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game after missing five games early in the year due to an ankle injury.
Williams reclassified to enroll at LSU in 2021, playing in 20 games with one start. He averaged 10.6 minutes per game, 1.7 points, 0.8 rebounds.
The four-star prospect picked LSU while holding offers from the likes of Alabama, Indiana, UConn, Michigan and others.
He’s the fourth Tiger to enter the portal, joining Corneilous Williams, Kendal Coleman and Justice Hill.
McMahon took over LSU last spring and the Tigers sputtered to one of the worst seasons in recent history. LSU finished just 2-16 in Southeastern Conference play with a 14-19 overall record.
LSU led off SEC play with a home win over Top 10 Arkansas, but then lost 13 straight league games before beating Vanderbilt at home Feb. 22. LSU beat Georgia in the SEC Tournament before falling to the Commodores on March 9 to end the first campaign under McMahon.
“I think clearly disappointed in the overall result of the season,” McMahon said after the loss to Vanderbilt. “You asked me, one of your first questions when I was blessed to get to take to job, What are your goals? My goal is the same every year: I want to help our players and team max out and become the best we’re capable of being. Whether that’s 15 wins, 18 wins, 31 wins… I don’t think we were able to get that accomplished this year. That’s clearly my responsibility. But there’s the reality, also, I’m well aware. I’m not an excuse-maker. I don’t blame anybody or complain.
“The reality is we didn’t take over the 22-win LSU team that went to the NCAA tournament. We took over a program in crisis, zero players, zero signees. Really had to start at ground zero and try to put a team together and do our best moving forward. Unfortunately wasn’t able to get it done at the level I would have liked to in January and February. Take quite a few positives from the year.”
