LSU guard Angelica Velez enters the NCAA Transfer Portal

LSU guard Angelica Velez has entered the transfer portal, On3 has learned. Velez only spent one season with the Tigers.

Velez appeared in 23 games and made zero starts. In 4.9 minutes per game, Velez averaged 1.2 points while shooting 33.3% from the field. Velez’s best game of the season came against McNeese State when she tallied a career-high 10 points and five assists in 14 minutes.

Angelica Velez played high school basketball at The Webb School (TN), where she was a four-star prospect. While there, Velez led her team to back-to-back state championships as a junior and senior. For her efforts, she was named the 2023 Division II-A Miss Tennessee Basketball Player of the Year.

Despite Velez’s decision to enter the portal, she spoke highly of LSU in October.

“Just being here is a blessing. I come from the Bronx, and a lot of kids don’t get this opportunity,” Velez said. “But just to be surrounded by great coaches that I have, my teammates to push me every day…no better place to be than LSU.”

LSU finished the season with a 31-6 overall record and a 13-3 mark in conference play. The team fell to South Carolina in the SEC Tournament Championship and suffered a season-ending loss to Iowa in the Elite Eight of the NCAAW Tournament.

Hailey Van Lith enters the NCAA Transfer Portal

Velez isn’t the only Tiger hitting the portal. On April 4, LSU standout Hailey Van Lith entered the transfer portal. Van Lith also spent just one season in Baton Rouge.

Van Lith could have declared for the 2024 WNBA Draft but was not on the list of entrants released on Thursday. Once LSU lost in the Elite Eight, she had just 48 hours to declare officially. And while her former teammate, Angel Reese, did, Van Lith will continue on in college thanks to the COVID-19 eligibility rules.

Following the Iowa loss, Mulkey stated she hoped Van Lith decided to come back for another season. However, she understood Van Lith needed to “take care” of herself. While Mulkey was likely talking about the WNBA Draft there, it remains true with the transfer portal.

“I hope it’s not her last game,” Mulkey said. “But if it is, I’m proud to have been her coach for a year. She’s got another year if she wants to come back. So does Angel. I know they have to make decisions.

“But the thing that we talk about a lot, on the men’s side, we talk about one-and-dones and how terrible that is. You go through a period, you can’t have these players for long periods of time, they’re selfish, they’re going to take care of themselves. Look, everybody is different and everybody has to do what they’re going to do.”