LSU basketball has picked up another transfer, adding former Mississippi State forward Derek Fountain.
The 6-foot-9, 220-pound Fountain played two seasons for the Bulldogs.
A product of Holly Springs (Mississippi) High, he averaged 1.8 points and 1.8 rebounds while being sporadically used in 8.4 minutes per game over 25 games with three starts for Mississippi State (18-16) last season.
The 2019-20 (Jackson, Mississippi) Clarion-Ledger Dandy Dozen pick averaged 5.4 points and 3 rebounds in 19 games as a freshman in 2020-21, starting in 12 of the Bulldogs’ final 14 games.
“We have been familiar with Derek for a long time and he fits the culture we are building at LSU,” new Tigers coach Matt McMahon said in a statement released by the school Thursday night. “We love his versatility at 6-9 with his ability to shoot the 3, rebound, and defend multiple positions.”
Fountain scored a career-high 20 points while shooting 8-of-12 from the field and also pulling down seven rebounds at home in Starkville against LSU as a freshman. He also scored 15 points against Louisiana Tech in the 2021 NIT semifinals and 10 against Saint Louis University in the NIT finals that year.
But Fountain had only one double-digit scoring game in 2021-22, a 10-point effort against Georgia State in mid-December.
He shot only 2-of-12 from 3-point range this past season, but made 15-of-39 (38.5%) on trey tries as a freshman.
Fountain becomes LSU’s fifth addition since McMahon, the former Murray State coach, replaced the fired Will Wade, along with Murray State transfer guards Justice Hill and Trae Hannibal, ex-Murray State signee Corneilous Williams and former Northwestern State big man Kendal Coleman from Northwestern State.
McMahon also has convinced holdover guards Mwani Wilkinson and Justice Williams, both of whom were among 11 Tigers to enter the NCAA transfer portal following Wade’s exit, to stay at LSU.
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