By KACE KIESCHNICK, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
There is hope for new LSU basketball coach Will Wade’s roster yet. Dozens of returning fifth-year basketball players are hitting the portal, and Wade has the one thing they are all looking for in bunches — opportunity.
While Colorado U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney’s recent nationwide ruling that gives class of 2022 athletes who exhausted their eligibility in 2026 an extra fifth season of eligibility in all sports does not alter the transfer portal or any other rules, a Tennessee temporary injunction does.
Davidson County Chancery Court Chancellor I’Ashea Myles’ Tennessee ruling on Friday reads, “Defendant shall recognize Plaintiffs as eligible for the 2026-2027 basketball season and shall not deny or impede their recruitment, transfer, or certification on the basis of the challenged eligibility determination.”
Dozens of players who were listed in Tennessee, Ohio, Colorado and California injunctions can now enter the men’s basketball transfer portal, which opened Monday and will close Aug. 10. The catch in signing these players for most teams across the country is if a roster is already full, programs cannot just make room by cutting players.
Such is not the case at LSU, where Wade has roster space for miles, so to speak, as he begins his second term as the Tigers’ coach, having previously coached with great success from 2017-22, albeit with voluminous NCAA recruiting violations that got him fired and later exiled to McNeese State for two seasons. He then landed at North Carolina State for 11 months as head coach before returning after last season to his beloved LSU, which has a fan base majority that has never stopped loving him.
Wade’s current roster only has four signed transfers with an unranked high school commitment on the way and four committed overseas players awaiting NCAA approval to join the Tigers.
Until Will Wade brings in all his European “All-Stars,” LSU men’s basketball is looking like a Club Sport. Column;https://t.co/mS1JS0YUUb
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) June 18, 2026
The resources and playing time Wade has to offer should make the Tigers instant contenders for some of the top returners to enter the portal. Here is a look at some of the top prospects.
(Portal entries are from those listed by 247sports.com)
Donovan Dent – UCLA
Dent surprisingly retired from basketball and announced he would not be pursuing an NBA career after his final collegiate season. That has left one of the top guards in the country and a potential NBA Draft pick available for a return. He spent his first three seasons at New Mexico before transferring to the Bruins last year. The 6-foot-2 guard started 34 games and averaged 13.3 points, 7.6 assists and 1.7 steals.
Maurice Odum – ASU
Odum is a sharp shooting 6-2 guard who broke out in his single Power Four season at Arizona State last year. The former Pacific Tiger and Pepperdine Wave shined as a Sun Devil with 16.4 points, 5.7 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals a game. He was 40.6% from the floor but 37.7 percent from three and shot 7.2 three-pointers per game.
AJ Storr – Ole Miss
Storr is a 6-5 guard who scored 15.5 points per game in 35 appearances and 15 starts last season. He made 44.8% of his shots and knocked down threes at 35 percent. He has also played at St. John’s, Wisconsin and Kansas as the tour continues.
Cameron Corhen – Pitt
Corhen played his first two seasons at Florida State before finishing his career as a Panther. The forward started every game each of the last two seasons and tallied 13.6 points and 6.8 rebounds on a 53.3 field goal percentage and 36.8 from beyond the arc.
Chris Bell – California
The forward averaged over 20 minutes a game in three seasons at Syracuse before transferring to Cal as a senior. Bell shot a red-hot 40 percent from three-point range last season and has a career 38.7 percentage mark. He averaged 14.2 points and 2.6 rebounds a game while making 46 percent of all his shots.
Jayden Epps – Mississippi State
The 6-foot-2 guard started 23 games and made 30 appearances as a Bulldog last year. He started out at Illinois and spent two seasons at Georgetown before heading to Starkville. He averaged 13.7 points, 2.3 assists and 2.5 rebounds a game while shooting 40.4 percent from the floor and 30.6 percent from three-point range.
B.J. Edwards – SMU
Edwards, a 6-3 guard, was a three-year starter as a Mustang after his freshman season at Tennessee. His senior season, he averaged 12.7 points a game while making 47.4 percent of his shots and 37 percent of his threes. He also contributed 5.9 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game.
Dug McDaniel – Memphis
The 5-11 guard played his freshman and sophomore seasons at Michigan before heading to Kansas State and then Memphis. He started all 32 games as a Tiger last year and posted 13.9 points, 4.6 assists and 3.7 rebounds a night.
Oziyah Sellers – St. John’s
Another journeyman, Sellers made stops at USC and Stanford before making 36 starts as a senior with the Red Storm. The 6-5 guard averaged 10.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists as he helped St. John’s to the Sweet 16.
Barry Dunning Jr. – Pitt
In his one season at Pitt, Dunning, a 6-6 guard-forward, contributed 12.5 points and 5.9 rebounds a game. He started 27 of his 33 appearances and shot 46.6% from the field.
Dillon Hunter – Clemson
The 6-3 guard started every game at Clemson his senior season in his fourth season there as his role grew with each year. He scored just 7.5 points to go along with 3.0 assists and 3.7 boards a game while shooting 34.7 percent from downtown.
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