Sophomore guard Kailyn Gilbert made her last appearance for the Arizona Wildcats in a triple overtime victory over Washington on Feb. 18. She played three minutes.
If her previous month of being with the team off and on wasn’t a clue, that made it obvious that she was not long for Tucson.
Gilbert entered the portal when it opened on Mar. 18. She now has a new home on the bayou. Louisiana State announced the addition of Gilbert on Wednesday afternoon.
She will join Kim Mulkey’s squad which is just one year removed from a national championship.
Gilbert is one of three signees announced by LSU on Apr. 24. She joins former Mississippi State guard Mjracle Sheppard and former Miami guard Shayeann Day-Wilson.
The Tigers lost four guards to the portal, including one of last year’s biggest transfers at the position, Hailey Van Lith. They were still stacked at the position before adding the trio.
Mulkey will have a squad that includes guards Flau’jaeJohnson, Milaylah Williams, Last-Tear Poa, and Izzy Besselman. They also list Aneesah Morrow as a guard on the roster and have signed transfer Jersey Wolfenbarger, who was listed as a guard/forward at Arkansas despite being 6-foot-5.
Gilbert is a talented scorer who led Arizona with 15.1 points per game in 23 games last year. She picked up those points in 28.2 minutes per contest.
While she averaged 2.3 assists per game, Gilbert was known to have sticky hands, refusing to pass the ball to teammates at times. That could lead to turnovers, resulting in 2.7 giveaways per game.
She is an effective rebounder at 5-foot-8. Last season, she was good for 5.3 boards per game.
Gilbert is a threat to score from all over the court. She shot 41.9 percent from the floor and 40 percent from 3-point range as a sophomore.
