BATON ROUGE – LSU Athletics and head basketball coach Will Wade announced on Friday that Xavier Pinson has signed the necessary Southeastern Conference and institutional paperwork to complete his transfer to the LSU Basketball program.

Pinson, a native of Chicago, played the past three seasons at Missouri. Last year he averaged 13.6 points and 2.9 assists per game.

“We are excited to have Xavier Pinson join the LSU Basketball team,” said Coach Wade. “He has performed at a high level in the Southeastern Conference for three years and will certainly provide a veteran presence on both ends of the floor for our basketball team.”

The 6-2 Pinson averaged 6.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game for Missouri in the 2018-19 season as a freshman. As a sophomore (2019-20), he averaged 11.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.

Pinson scored in double figures 18 times and 41 in his three years at Missouri with 10 games over 20 points. He posted 36 points in the Tigers overtime win over TCU, 102-98, in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Jan. 30, making eight three-point field goals. Pinson also had 27 points, hitting 10-of-14 field goal attempts at Tennessee (12/30) and 23 in two games versus Arkansas (1/2, 2/13).

In three seasons, he started 48-of-87 games making 98 three-pointers, including 43 this past season. He was 87-of-104 (83.7%) at the free throw line and over three seasons made 81.5 percent. In three seasons, he scored 901 points (a 10.4 career scoring average).

In his freshman campaign he became just the third Missouri freshman in program history to shoot at least 40 percent from the field, 40 percent from three-point range and 75 percent from the free throw line in the same season.

Pinson originally attended St. Patrick High School in Chicago before transferring to Simeon Career Academy for his senior season, averaging 11.9 points and 3.8 assists. He helped his team to a 29-4 record, winning the Class 4A sectional and the Chicago Public League title. The three-star athlete scored 31 points in Chicago’s annual City + Suburban All-Star game and was a 2018 Chicago Sun-Times All-City honorable mention selection.