Will Wade May Take A 3 Dog Night From Portal As “1 Is The Loneliest Number”

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

It has been three long weeks since the NCAA Transfer Portal opened, and big talking new LSU basketball coach Will Wade still has all of one player on his roster.

That is No. 8-ranked small forward Mouhamad Dioubate (6-foot-7, 220 pounds), who will be a senior for the Tigers in the 2026-27 season after transferring from Kentucky. And, “One is the loneliest number,” according to the song “One” that was covered by “Three Dog Night” after its original recording by Harry Nilsson.

Feels like LSU needs more than one basketball player for next season.

— Hunt Palmer (@HuntPalmer88) April 27, 2026

“You won’t find anybody that’s more proud to wear that LSU and state of Louisiana than this guy right here, and we’re going to find 15 players that are willing to lay it on the line for us every night,” Wade said at his introductory press conference in front of nearly 1,000 fans at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on March 30.

“We’re going to build a winning program, and we’re going to build this thing quick,” he said. “This is not something that’s going to take long. We’re going to get in that portal when it opens, and we’re going to put together a winner because everybody in here deserves a winner.”

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But so far, Wade’s pursuit of several highly ranked portal players has rimmed out. The latest was on Monday when No. 9 power forward and No. 55 overall portal player Miikka Muurinen (6-foot-10, 205) of KK Partizan High in Serbia, committed to Arkansas after first visiting coach John Calipari there in the fall of 2024. Muurinen was a Wade target, according to Glen West of 247sports.com.

Wade had been recruiting Muurinen during Wade’s one year as North Carolina State’s coach in 2024-25. Muurinen visited NC State last July and also had offers from Indiana and Kentucky.

In addition to Muurinen, the following SEVEN players believed to be targeted by Wade out of the portal have recently committed to other schools with rankings by 247sports.com:

-No. 32 overall and No. 7 center Aiden Sherrell (6-11, 255) of Alabama to Indiana on April 15.

-No. 132 overall and No. 25 small forward Terrance Arceneaux (6-6, 205) of North Carolina State to George Washington on April 15.

-No. 31 overall and No. 5 combination guard Jeremiah Wilkinson (6-1, 185) of Georgia to Arkansas on April 14.

-No. 85 overall and No. 18 small forward KJ Lewis (6-4, 210) of Georgetown to USC on April 14.

-No. 115 overall and No. 17 shooting guard Devin Vanterpool (6-4, 190) of Florida Atlantic to Providence on April 14.

-No. 49 overall and No. 11 point guard Jalan Lowe (6-1, ,170) of Kentucky to Georgetown on April 13.

-No. 6 overall and No. 1 point guard PJ Haggerty (6-4, 195) of Kansas State to Texas A&M on April 10.