By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
Will Wade’s first export from the NCAA Transfer Portal as LSU’s new basketball coach could provide instant offense, although he has a tendency to be called for traveling.
Not traveling on the court, rather, to different schools, but LSU would be the final destination of hot shooting guard PJ Haggerty (6-foot-4, 195 pounds) of Kansas State as a collegiate player.
Haggerty is ranked as the No. 5 overall player in the portal by 247Sports.com and the No. 2 point guard. He was the No. 126 player in the country out of Crosby High in Crosby, Texas, in 2022 and the No. 18 combination guard and No. 12 player in Texas.
Only at LSU … Will Wade hires the coach he replaced. Not Matt McMahon – the other guy. LSU will have 3 coaches it fired and hired back on the floor next season – Will Wade, assistant Johnny Jones and John Brady, who does LSU Radio.https://t.co/FJDewM3WQL
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) April 10, 2026
The Tigers would be Haggerty’s fifth school in five years, but his freshman season at TCU in 2022-23 was counted as a red-shirt season. Last season at Kansas State (12-20, 3-15 Big 12) as a redshirt junior, he finished fourth in the nation in scoring with 5.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 40-of-114 shooting from three-point range for 35 percent in 31 games.
At Memphis (28-5, 16-2 American Conference) in 2024-25, he also led his team in scoring with 21.8 points a game, 5.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists with 38-of-98 shooting from long range for 38 percent. At Tulsa (16-15, 7-11 American Conference) in 2023-24, Haggerty led that team in scoring at 21.2 a game along with 5.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists. He shot only 28 percent from three-point range that season (22 of 76), but improved on that.
Former LSU coach John Brady said Will Wade should never have been fired on Tiger Rag Radio. But there is a much better argument that Brady shouldn’t have been fired. https://t.co/qMi71g6xDu
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) April 10, 2026
Wade recruited Haggerty hard last year to North Carolina State, but lost him to Kansas State. North Carolina State new coach Justin Gainey also has a shot at Haggerty as do Texas and Ole Miss.
NUMBER 1 PREP SMALL FORWARD RYAN HAMPTON VISITING LSU
Meanwhile, LSU is expected to be hosting the nation’s No. 1 prep small forward in Ryan Hampton (6-6, 190) of DME Academy in Daytona Beach, Florida, this weekend. A five-star prospect, Hampton is the No. 5 overall high school player by 247sports.com and No. 3 player in Florida.
Hampton has already visited Nebraska and North Carolina State, and SMU is in the hunt. Among the other programs who have offered scholarships are Florida State, Arizona State, Baylor, Auburn, Kansas, Louisville, Tennessee, Texas and Memphis.
SANTA CLARA’S ALLEN GRAVES – BROTHER OF EX-LSU PLAYER MARSHALL GRAVES – ENTERS PORTAL
Wade may also be targeting Santa Clara redshirt freshman Allen Graves (6-9, 225), who was the Gatorade Louisiana Boys Basketball Player of the Year in 2023-24 for Ponchatoula High. Graves has entered the portal after averaging 11.8 points and 6.5 rebounds last season at Santa Clara and being named the West Coast Conference freshman of the year. He red-shirted at Santa Clara in 2024-25.
Graves also recently put his name in for the NBA Draft this summer, but he can exit the draft by May 27 and maintain his college eligibility.
Graves’ older brother Marshall Graves played for LSU during Wade’s first head coaching stint with the Tigers from 2017-20.
NUMBER 1 PREP SMALL FORWARD RYAN HAMPTON VISITING LSU
Meanwhile, LSU is expected to be hosting the nation’s No. 1 prep small forward in Ryan Hampton (6-6, 190) of DME Academy in Daytona Beach, Florida, this weekend. A five-star prospect, Hampton is the No. 5 overall high school player by 247sports.com and No. 3 player in Florida.
Hampton has already visited Nebraska and North Carolina State, and SMU is in the hunt. Among the other programs who have offered scholarships are Florida State, Arizona State, Baylor, Auburn, Kansas, Louisville, Tennessee, Texas and Memphis.
FORMER GEORGIA TECH HEAD COACH DAMON STOUDAMIRE MAY JOIN WILL WADE STAFF
Wade may be close to naming a third assistant coach after hiring former LSU head coach Johnny Jones and former Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury this week. The third could be just-fired Georgia Tech head coach Damon Stoudamire, who was 11-20 this past season.
Damon Stoudamire is on LSU’s campus Friday and is expected to join Will Wade’s staff, source confirms.
— Matt Moscona (@MattMoscona) April 10, 2026
Deal is not done but expected to be finalized soon.@1045espn @LASportsDotNet
Stoudamire, 52, previously was the coach at Pacific (2016-21), an assistant with the Boston Celtics (2021-23) and at Memphis (2011-13, 2015-16) and Arizona (2013-15) He was the seventh pick of the first round in the 1995 NBA Draft by Toronto out of Arizona and played eight 13 seasons.
NOTES: LSU is down to two players who have not entered the transfer portal – freshman point guard Jalen Reece and sophomore forward Robert Miller III. The last signee remaining from former coach Matt McMahon’s 2026 class is also not returning – No. 37 small forward Herly Brutus of the The Villages, Florida, has gotten out of his scholarship and reopened his recruiting. … LSU junior center Mike Nwoko entered the portal this week and is headed to Xavier, as previously reported by Tiger Rag. … LSU point guard Dedan Thomas Jr., who was the first player on the 2025-26 team to enter the portal, is considering a transfer to Alabama.
Be the first to comment