Another Auburn basketball transfer target is officially out of the portal. Former Missouri guard Xavier Pinson decided that he would stay in the same conference and remain a tiger in committing to Will Wade and LSU for the 2021-22 season. Transfer targets going to schools other than Auburn isn’t very interesting at the rate it’s happening, recently, but what’s interesting about Pinson’s situation is that LSU wasn’t even in his final four schools.
If you didn’t notice that Will Wade wasn’t even in the equation for Pinson just last week, it’s okay because the Auburn fans did. This one is particularly frustrating for the Tigers seeing as Pinson’s own brother was campaigning to get the guard to the Plains and shouted out the Auburn family and coaching staff on Twitter after his brother’s decision.
Pinson named a final four schools of Auburn, Arkansas, Georgia, and Nebraska, so how did he end up at LSU? We can’t say for sure, but the decision does come in the wake of claims made about Wade being caught on tape discussing paying players but going unpunished by the NCAA.
Meanwhile, Auburn fans had every reason to be bitter throughout the 2020 season while Sharife Cooper sat on the bench and the entire team sat out of the SEC Tournament and March Madness. But things just keep getting better for Will Wade– a trip to March Madness, apparent immunity with the NCAA, and now the commitment of Xavier Pinson. Obviously, Auburn Twitter had a few things to say:
Xavier Pinson has committed to transferring to LSU. This is the same basketball program whose head coach, Will Wade, was caught on tape by the FBI running bagmen.
— ED KING FOREVER (@LonelyTalegater) April 12, 2021
In the last few days, Auburn basketball has missed out on several major transfer targets including both Noah Gurley and Nimari Burnett to Alabama. UNC transfer Walker Kessler is keeping everyone on their toes about his decision, but it’s still too soon to say whether he’ll end up on the Plains or back at UNC.