Bella Hines repeatedly stated that she was not going to leave LSU and enter the transfer portal after her freshman season of college basketball. And then she entered the transfer portal…
The bizarre sequence of events happened in less than 48 hours.
For a top recruit to leave one of the top women’s college basketball programs so suddenly alludes to some kind of drama behind the scenes. Her father hinted at a sour conversation with the coaching staff.
Who is Bella Hines?
Hines was a huge get for LSU. Although she rated as a four-star prospect, she was a top-25 recruit in the Class of 2025 and one of the best players at her position.
Most people expected that the Albuquerque-native would play an important depth role for the Tigers as a freshman with the ability to flourish into a superstar as her career progressed.
However, Hines averaged only 13 minutes per game during the entire 2025-26 season and played even less during conference play. She scored 4.2 points on 44.9% shooting with 2.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists.
Head coach Kim Mulkey was thrilled about her potential!
Bella Hines played more than 20 minutes in the NCAA Tournament games against Jacksonville and Texas Tech. It was a taste of what could come. The Tigers will see a lot of turnover at the guard position this offseason. Their star freshman proved she was worthy of valuable minutes in the future!
LSU lost its star freshman to the transfer portal.
Hines was prepared to return to LSU for her sophomore year in 2026-27. She reiterated her plans to do so on more than one occasion.
The first was at the team’s annual crawfish boil before the postseason. Listen to this:
— – (@Spicoli_____) April 8, 2026
Mulkey recently told reporters that she expected every single player from this season to return for next season except for Divine Bourrage, who entered the transfer portal on Monday, and all of the graduating seniors like Flau’jae Johnson. Hines doubled down just a few days later on TikTok Live.
She explicitly stated “I am not entering the transfer portal.”
like no way 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/UrkBced0gW
— chai. (@ccultureechai) April 7, 2026
Her dad also spoke about the culture in Baton Rouge at the end of March. He said Baton Rouge and LSU have been amazing.
"This generation needs a little kick in the butt every once and awhile."@LSUwbkb @SaucyBella2 father Josh is happy his daughter is playing for @KimMulkey at #LSU.
— Jacques Doucet (@JacquesDoucet) March 28, 2026
"Baton Rouge has been amazing. LSU has been amazing." @WAFB #Sacramento #Sweet16 pic.twitter.com/PeRnmpYnlS
And then everything changed. Bella Hines announced her decision to enter the transfer portal on Tuesday. She will not play at LSU next season. She is going to seek a new opportunity.
So what happened? We don’t know exactly.
Her father claims the decision stems from a conversation with the coaching staff earlier this week. He claims his daughter had never once thought about leaving until Monday.
Bella Hines dad had time today https://t.co/zVRx0hfWUA pic.twitter.com/qekLhvIRf6
— daceycash (@daceycashhhh) April 7, 2026
It sounds like playing time was a big factor.
“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. 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, Bella Hines said on TikTok Live that the process of earning more minutes was part of her development. She knew she had to pay her dues and work harder.
“Got to trust the process,” the second-semester freshman said. “I know y’all saw Jada (Richard). Jada was literally in my position and y’all see Jada now?”
Richard played sparingly as a freshman and started as a sophomore. Hines was ready to do the same…
… until she suddenly decided to leave.
Considering that Johnson, Bourrage and Kailyn Gilbert will not be on the roster in 2026-27, there was a real opportunity for Hines to get increased minutes next season. Her father’s comments make it seem like he might know something that we don’t. Maybe LSU is going to add a star transfer guard. We’ll see.