Bella Hines Enters Portal In Unexpected Move After Saying She Would Stay

By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter

Bella Hines’ recent announcement that she is entering the transfer portal is a reminder that anything can happen in today’s NIL-driven era of college athletics.

Before the season ended and the transfer portal opened, Hines repeatedly said on social media that she did not plan to transfer, including when she appeared alongside Kim Mulkey at the team’s annual crawfish boil before the postseason in early March.

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Hines, a former four-star prospect, averaged 13 minutes per game this season, but she was expected to take on a much larger role for the Tigers moving forward.

Recently, Mulkey told WAFB’s Jacques Doucet that she expected everyone to return except for Divine Bourrage, who entered the transfer portal on Monday. Hines also reiterated that stance during a recent TikTok Live, where she shut down transfer rumors.

“No, I’m not entering the transfer portal,” Hines said on her TikTok live. “I’m staying at LSU.”

like no way 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/UrkBced0gW

— chai. (@ccultureechai) April 7, 2026

That may have been true—until Monday. Hines’ father, Josh, said in a Twitter Spaces with LSU women’s basketball fans that his daughter had never considered transferring until something happened earlier this week.

“Bella never had any intentions of leaving LSU. This happened yesterday (Monday),” Josh said on a Twitter Spaces on Tuesday. “This came up yesterday in conversations and trying to talk to coaches about her future and things like that, so there’s a lot more to the story than everybody wants to open up or say because no one else is going to speak on Bella’s behalf, but me.”

Bella Hines dad had time today https://t.co/zVRx0hfWUA pic.twitter.com/qekLhvIRf6

— daceycash (@daceycashhhh) April 7, 2026

No one knows exactly what happened, but Hines’ father’s next comments were telling.

“If anybody wants to look at the lineups and look at the rotations and look at the depth of this guard class that LSU has, Bella was never going to be a priority at LSU, no matter how much people complained,” Josh said. “We saw it all this year. It was never going to change moving forward. She always going to play a backburner and get limited minutes because that’s just what it is.”

However, Hines recently said in that same TikTok Live that earning more playing time was part of her development.

“Got to trust the process,” Hines said. “I know y’all saw Jada (Richard). Jada was literally in my position and y’all see Jada now?”

Richard had limited minutes in her freshman season, similar to Hines, but worked her way into a starting role this past offseason. Although the Tigers are expected to return MiLaysia Fulwiley, Mikaylah Williams and Richard, Hines would have had an opportunity to earn significantly more minutes – especially with the departures of Flau’jae Johnson, Divine Bourrage and Kailyn Gilbert.

Hines’ absence will certainly be felt next season. With her departure, LSU will likely need to pursue another guard in the transfer portal.