LSU Basketball Transfer Visiting Miami Hurricanes as Portal Process Ramps Up

Matt McMahon and the LSU Tigers continue working through a critical offseason in Baton Rouge with the program navigating the NCAA Transfer Portal.

The program has landed commitments from: Ron Zipper (International), PJ Carter (Memphis), Rashad King (Northeastern), Max Mackinnon (Portland), Michael Nwoko (Mississippi State), Marquel Sutton (Omaha), Pablo Tamba (UC Davis), and Dedan Thomas Jr. (UNLV).

But the Tigers have also seen multiple players from the 2024-25 roster elect to enter the free agent market this offseason.

The final player to reveal his intentions to depart Baton Rouge in April was true freshman guard Curtis Givens.

Givens, one of the program's top signees in the 2024 Recruiting Cycle, was set to return for his sophomore campaign in the purple and gold.

Then, he elected to enter the portal on the final day players could place their names in the database.

Givens is coming off of a 2024-25 campaign where he played in 32 games as a freshman, averaging 18.2 minutes per game.

Since entering the Transfer Portal, Givens has received significant interest.

LSU transfer Curtis Givens is receiving interest from the following programs, he tells @LeagueRDY:

Maryland
Ole Miss
Miami
Memphis
Iowa
USC
Georgia
Villanova
Wake Forest
West Virginia
Texas A&M
BYU

He averaged 4.8PPG this season. Former Top-50 recruit in the ‘24 class. pic.twitter.com/RXwUBL8HES
— Sam Kayser (@247HSHoops) April 30, 2025

Now, the former LSU Tigers is on a visit with the Miami Hurricanes, he revealed via social media on Tuesday.

McMahon and the Tigers continue revamping the roster in Baton Rouge with the program adding the final piece to the roster on Saturday afternoon.

The Recent Addition: Israeli guard Ron Zipper

The LSU men’s basketball team continues to add new players to the its roster with the addition of Israeli basketball guard Ron Zipper.

Zipper, at 6-5, recently played for Hapoel Be’er Sheva in the Israeli Premier Winner League. During the 2024-25 season, he averaged 11.1 points and 2.0 rebounds.

He shot 46.7 percent from inside the arc and 36.4 percent from distance (39-of-107), while making 73-of-88 free throws (83.0 percent).

Zipper has also played on Israel’s Youth National teams in FIBA competition, including the 2021 U18 European Challengers and the 2022 and 2023 FIBA U20 European Championship.

He averaged 25.2 points in the five games of the Challengers where he was named the MVP.

In the 2023 FIBA U20 competition in seven games, he averaged 11.9 points and 2.6 rebounds a contest as Israel advanced to the finals, winning the silver medal.

“We’re really excited to welcome Ron Zipper to our program and to the state of Louisiana,” said Coach McMahon. “He is a 6-5 highly skilled guard and an excellent three-point shooter.

"He has tremendous international experience in both the Israel Winner League and multiple European Championship competitions. We look forward to Ron making an immediate impact at LSU.”

During the Winner League season, Zipper had 12 games in double figures with 23 points against Ironi Ness Ziona on 7-of-9 two-point shooting with two three-pointers and 23 against Maccabi Ironi Ramat Gan, making 5-of-5 from three-point range.

He also scored 21 against Tel-Aviv, which featured a 7-of-7 night from the free throw line.

Former Tiger basketball star Antonio Blakeney (2015-17), also plays in the Israeli Premier League for basketball, most recently for Hapoel Tel-Aviv.

Zipper, who will be a freshman in eligibility, joins a Tiger roster which at this point includes returnees redshirt junior Jalen Reed and sophomore Robert Miller III.

Transfers joining the team include: PJ Carter (Memphis), Rashad King (Northeastern), Max Mackinnon (Portland), Michael Nwoko (Mississippi State), Marquel Sutton (Omaha), Pablo Tamba (UC Davis) and, Dedan Thomas Jr. (UNLV).

LSU signed three high school players in the November early signing period — Jalen Reece (Orlando, Florida), Mazi Mosley (Los Angeles, California) and Matt Gilhool (Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania).

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