By Hunt Palmer
LSU’s 2025-26 basketball roster is complete. The additions of PJ Carter and Ron Zipper over the weekend have set Matt McMahon’s squad at 13 scholarship players as the school year comes to a close and summer workouts approach.
Only Robert Miller and Jalen Reed return for LSU, so it will be up to the staff to mold a cohesive unit out of 11 newcomers. As the transfer portal commitments have filed in, we’ve broken them down here. Let’s take a look at Memphis transfer PJ Carter in this edition of Portal Profile.
WHAT WE KNOW
Carter is entering his sixth and final season of college basketball. He began his career back in 2020 at Campbell where he played sparingly over two years. After that, he spent a year at Georgia Highlands College where he really found his game.
He led that team in scoring at 16.3 points per game coming off the bench. But the most telling stat is that he shot 43 percent from three point range that season.
From there, he went to UTSA and averaged 9.5 points in about 20 minutes per game for the Road Runners. Again, he shot 40 percent from three, sixth in the American Athletic Conference. He made five threes twice and six once over the course of that season.
Memphis came calling for 2024-25, and he came off the bench for Penny Hardaway’s team. He once again shot 40 percent from three and made 26 of 28 free throws for 93 percent.
He doesn’t distribute, just 12 assists in 35 games. He doesn’t rebound, averaged just 1.5 per game at Memphis. He doesn’t drive; 119 of his 147 shots were threes.
He’s a 6-foot-4, sixth-year shooter.
THE FIT
The next basketball roster I put together will be my first, but it will also include a player like Carter. He’s a dead-eye shooter and has been at three different stops.
He is not being brought to LSU to start. He’s not being brought in to lead the team in scoring or lock down opposing guards. He’s coming to Baton Rouge to come off the bench and make threes.
NEW: LSU is the current leader for Memphis transfer 6’4” G PJ Carter, per source.
He has also heard from VCU, Murray State, Clemson, UCF, McNeese State, Seton Hall, and others. Return to Memphis is unlikely, but still an option.
Carter is a sharpshooter on the perimeter,… pic.twitter.com/lbL4r3fIi8
— Hitmen Hoops (@HitmenHoops) May 1, 2025
There was a stretch from late-January to early February this year for Memphis where he made 13 threes in four games.
Carter won’t demand a starting role. He knows what he is and felt fine coming off the bench for a ranked Memphis squad all season. This fit is obvious because every team needs this role filled.
HUNT’S PROJECTION
This projection is easy. He will do the same thing at LSU he did at Memphis. Carter will play 10-15 minutes per game and shoot three or four threes. If he catches a heater, he may shoot seven.
He’s also a guy you’ll get on the floor with a four or five point lead with a minute to play because he’s a fantastic free throw shooter.
I expect Carter to shoot 40 percent from deep again and be a seventh or eighth option on this team. He’s not a program changer or an all-SEC candidate, but he’ll be a really nice offensive piece to the puzzle for McMahon’s team.
