New LSU men’s basketball coach [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] is close to making the first addition to his staff.
According to Stadium’s Jeff Goodman, the Tigers are close to finalizing a deal to bring Memphis Tigers assistant [autotag]Cody Toppert[/autotag] to Baton Rouge. The 39-year-old has coached under Penny Hardaway at Memphis since 2019.
Toppert has experience coaching at the NBA level. After graduating from Cornell in 2005, he had a playing career that lasted until 2012 — mostly overseas but also in the NBA minor leagues. Following his playing career, he served a stint as an assistant at Scottsdale Christian Academy in Phoenix before jumping to the NBA G League.
Memphis assistant Cody Toppert is finalizing a deal to go to LSU, source told @Stadium. Nice first step for Matt McMahon on his staff. Toppert is an ex-NBA guy who also has recruiting ties – especially in the south.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 26, 2022
He was an assistant coach for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers from 2015-17 before serving as the head coach for the Northern Arizona Suns for one season. Toppert received a call-up after that and spent the following season as an assistant with the Phoenix Suns before heading to Memphis.
McMahon is a forward-thinking coach, and in Toppert, he lands a forward-thinking assistant. In his previous stop at Memphis, he created and oversaw one of college basketball’s top analytics programs.
The context of this move is also worth noting. On Saturday morning, it was reported that Memphis — and Hardaway, specifically — is facing multiple Level I and II charges from the NCAA. However, Toppert now joins another program with potential sanctions down the road, which resulted in the termination of previous coach [autotag]Will Wade[/autotag].
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