Photo of Aundre Hyatt by: SEC / Photo of Jalen Cook by: Terrill Weil

4/16/2021
By: Terrill J. Weil
Da Boot Sports


   BATON ROUGE, LA:  The LSU basketball team has suffered another blow to its roster as both Aundre Hyatt and Jalen Cook have entered the NCAA transfer portal. 
   
   Hyatt found himself in and out of the lineup as a reserve until settling in as a starter mid-way in the 2021 season. He averaged 4.2 points and 3.1 rebounds in 15.9 minutes of playing time this season. Hyatt's decision to enter the portal on Wednesday was somewhat of a surprise to most. 
   
   Cook, a local product from Walker, saw very little playing time in 2021, as he found himself behind Jovante Smart and Eric Gaines. In his single season in the purple and gold, he averaged 3.1 points per game in 20 appearances. Cook found his minutes on the court due to his aggressive defensive skills.

   LSU has now lost their entire starting lineup from last season as Javonte Smart, Trendon Watford, Darius Days, and Cam Thomas all announced this week they are moving on to the NBA, leaving Will Wade a huge gap on his roster to fill for next season.  
  

4/15/2021
LSU Sports Information
By: Christian Verde


   BATON ROUGE – After a spectacular freshman campaign at LSU, Cameron Thomas announced on Thursday that he was "declaring for the 2021 NBA draft and intend to sign with an agent."
   Thomas posted his note about his freshman year and plans on Twitter shortly before Noon CT.

  Thomas earned All-SEC First Team honors in 2021 as well as SEC All-Tournament team honors. He was the USA Today SEC Newcomer of the Year and a second team All-America as selected by the paper. He was an honorable mention A-A selection by the Associated Press and a Collegeinsider.com Kyle Macy Freshman All-America.
   Thomas came to LSU from Chesapeake, Virginia as a "prolific scorer" and lived up to that billing
by leading all NCAA D1 freshmen in scoring while posting one of the top freshman seasons in LSU Basketball history. He averaged 23.0 points per game, 3.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists. He averaged 23.1 points in the 17 SEC games.
   He scored 27 points versus St. Bonaventure and 30 against Michigan in his two NCAA Tournament games. Thomas finished with the 13th-highest scoring average by an LSU player in its history and his 22 games over 20 points was the most by a Division I freshman in 2020-21.
  His scoring average was the fourth-highest scoring average for a first-year player on the LSU team topped only by Pete Maravich as a sophomore in 1967-68 (43.8), Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf as a freshman in 1988-89 (30.2) and Bob Pettit as a sophomore in 1951-52 (25.5).
   Thomas finished fourth in the nation in scoring average, third in total points (668) and first in free
​throws made (194).

4/9/2021
LSU Sports Information
By: Christian Verde


   BATON ROUGE – LSU junior forward Darius Days announced on his Instagram account on Friday that he intends to put his name into the 2021 NBA Draft.
"Thanks to Baton Rouge for all of the love, support and life long relationships. You welcomed a small town country kid from Raleigh, Fla., into Tiger Nation!" Days wrote in his announcement.
Days played and started all 28 games he dressed for in 2020-21, missing one game with an ankle injury. He averaged 11.6 points, 7.8 rebounds and just over one steal a game. The heart and soul of the LSU team, the Tigers were 19-1 when he scored in double figures this season.
In 94 career games, he had 61 starts over three seasons, upping his points and rebound average every season at LSU.
He shot over 50 percent this season, making 123-of-237 (51.9%) with 52 three-pointers. He had 22 games in double figures, 44 over three seasons. He had eight double doubles in 20-21, 16 over three seasons. He tied for the most doubles this season by an SEC player and the most by any 20202-21 player in the SEC for a career.
He completed his third year with 571 rebounds, becoming the 40th player to record 500 LSU career boards. He finished third in the SEC in rebounds average and third in defensive rebound average (5.3). Days was sixth in the SEC in offensive rebound average.

4/8/2021
LSU Sports Information
By: Christian Verde



   BATON ROUGE – LSU guard Javonte Smart, who in three years went from local prep star to outstanding leader and one of the league's top point guards, announced on his Instagram account late Thursday morning that he will be entering the NBA draft.
Smart said "… thank you for an amazing three years. I, along with my family, have decided to enter the 2021 NBA Draft with an agent."


The All-SEC second team selection had his best season at LSU in 2020-21, averaging 16.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.3 steals in 28 games for LSU. He posted 25 games in double figures, 66 over his three-year career. He had eight games of 20 points or more topped by 29 versus Texas Tech (1/30), 27 in the NCAA Tournament against Michigan (3/22) and 25 versus Sam Houston State (12/14).
Smart had 11 games with three or more three-point field goals made this season with 12 games of five or more assists (29 for his three-year career). He posted 70 three-pointers for the season, the 13th best single season at LSU. His 157 career three-pointers is tied for 12 all-time. Smart was the seventh Tiger to finish with at least 1,200 career points, 300 assists and 111 steals.
The Baton Rouge native was first in the SEC in minutes played at 35.33 a game and first in the league in three-point percentage at 40.2 percent. He was 10th in league scoring average and third in assist average.
Smart played in 93 games, starting 76, finished with 1,211 career points.

4/8/2021
LSU Sports Information
By: Christian Verde


   BATON ROUGE – LSU sophomore forward Trendon Watford Wednesday announced via his twitter
account that he will enter the 2021 NBA Draft and sign with an agent.
Watford said: "Thank you for embracing a kid from Birmingham, Alabama, as one of your own. It's been an honor to wear the purple and gold. These past two years have been a complete joy."
​He concluded: "Furthermore with the support from my family, friends, coaches and teammates, I will be declaring for the 2021 NBA draft with the plan to hire an agent. This has been a lifelong dream of mine."
Watford, who earned All-SEC First Team and SEC All-Tournament Team honors in 2021, averaged 16.3 points a game and 7.4 rebounds along with 2.99 assists. In 17 league games, he averaged 15.9 points and 7.8 rebounds. He made 170 field goals, shot 48 percent from the field and had 18 treys.
Watford started 58-of-59 career games over two seasons and had nine games of 20 points or more this season, highlighted by a career high of 30 points in the SEC Championship game against Alabama (3/14) when he made 13 field goals with eight rebounds and two assists.
He had six double doubles this season with 13 for his two years at LSU. He was sixth in the league in scoring average and fifth in points scored at 457. He was fifth in the league in rebound average and league leader in defensive rebound average at 5.71. Watford was fourth in the league in minutes per game at 34.6 minutes and fourth in the SEC in field goal percentage.
He finished his two years at LSU with 878 points, a 14.9 average, and 431 rebounds (7.3 average).