Michigan State transfer Divine Ugochukwu to play for Will Wade at LSU

Another Michigan State men's basketball transfer is headed to play for Will Wade.

A year after Tre Holloman infamouslyleft Michigan State to play for Wade at NC State, Michigan State transfer Divine Ugochukwu committed Thursday to play for Wade at LSU. Ugochukwu was Michigan State's only portal departure this offseason after starting 12 of his 22 games at shooting guard before a foot injury ended his season for the final 12 games.

The 6-foot-3 Ugochukwu averaged 5.1 points and 1.5 assists per game as a sophomore last season, his only with the Spartans having spent the prior year at Miami (Florida) during the surprise retirement of Jim Larrañaga. He was brought in to be Holloman's replacement behind Fears at the point, in addition to some combo guard duties. Now, it appeears that freshman Carlos Medlock Jr. will take those reins in 2026.

After Ugochukwu'sportal entry April 22, Michigan State point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. — who is currently testing the NBA Draft waters but is expected to return — posted on his Instagram story a picture with the caption "man oh man, can't have bad people in your circle." Who he was referring to is unknown.

However, Wade probably doesn't sit too well with Tom Izzo and Michigan State after Holloman's departure a year ago. Holloman had played an important role as a combo guard who ran the point as Fears' backup (really, co-starter as they split minutes at times in almost complete rotation changes) in his junior year that saw Michigan Statewin the Big Ten championship. But days after the 2025 NCAA Tournament runended in the Elite Eight, and weeks after Holloman had kissed the Spartan helmet on the Breslin Center courtafter shoving two Michigan players off the logoduring senior celebrations, Holloman entered the transfer portal in a shocking move.

How did that pan out? Holloman played a career high 25.6 minutes scoring 9.2 points and dishing 2.1 assists per game, but NC State's 2025-26 season ended in the First Four with a loss to Texas, while Michigan Statelost in the Sweet 16 to UConn.

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Since then, Holloman has been back at Breslin Center, and on March 31, Izzo told WILX sportscaster Tim Staudt that a player had texted him for weeks about how he made a mistake in leaving the Spartans. Not so subtly, the insinuation is that was Holloman.

Now, Ugochukwu is set to play at LSU, where Wade returns as head coach after his firing before the 2022 NCAA Tournament for a lengthy NCAA investigation that dug up impermissible payments to recruit players to LSU spanning five Level I violations. After stops at McNeese State and NC State the past three seasons, LSU hired him back to lead a basketball program that hasn't made the NCAA Tournament since he left.

For Ugochukwu, the move is closer to his home of Houston suburb Sugar Land, Texas, which is 4½ hours west of LSU's Baton Rouge campus. He is one of two portal adds for LSU, alongside Mouhamed Dioubate (Kentucky), though Wade told 247Sports he has seven or eight players on board, including international prospects, to stock a roster that lost nine transfers this offseason.

cearegood@detroitnews.com

@ConnorEaregood

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News:Michigan State transfer Divine Ugochukwu to play for Will Wade at LSU