Tag: Matt McMahon

Predicting LSU basketball’s starting lineup next season

Here’s how things seem to be shaping up for Matt McMahon’s first season.

[autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] has done a fantastic job putting a roster together, and that might be an understatement.

Over the last few months, LSU’s roster has been filled out via the transfer portal, some recruiting and even convincing departing players to come back.

At this point, we have a pretty good idea about what that group will look like next year despite not having an official roster posted yet. That means we can start taking a stab at what the starting lineup will be.

This is harder than it is most years as there are so many variables surrounding these players. With talented freshmen, it’s always tough to predict if they will be ready. With transfers making the jump from a weaker conference, you never know how they will fare against consistently tougher competition. In Adam Miller’s case specifically, we don’t know what he will look like coming back from injury.

There will be plenty of competition to see how the minutes should be divided up. I also expect McMahon to play a lot of these guys as a lot of them are similar in talent and skill. There’s not much pressure on McMahon next year which means he can take some time to develop some guys and try out new things.

Here’s how we see the starting lineup breaking down as things currently stand.

LSU basketball offers combo guard from Georgia

The Tigers are already looking ahead a couple of years to a backcourt player in the 2024 class.

Coach [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] has been working hard on the recruiting trail and has landed a lot of recruits for the class of 2022 here recently, but he isn’t stopping there.

He is already looking ahead to the future as he recently offered [autotag]Gicarri Harris[/autotag], a combo guard in the 2024 class from Loganville, Georgia, where he plays for Grayson High School. He is still a few years away from seeing just how far his recruitment will climb, but he currently holds five Division I offers (LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Florida, and Purdue).

He currently does not have any stars or any predictions because, as previously stated, it is still a few years out before his recruiting really heats up. I’ll be sure to keep up with him as he enters his junior season at Grayson this winter.

LSU basketball picks up another blue-chip commitment for 2022

McMahon has now added the fourth high school recruit to the 2022 class as part of his quick turnaround.

Much has been said about the pace at which Tigers coach [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] has rebuilt the roster in Baton Rouge.

He salvaged what appeared to be one of the worst situations in the Power Five in just a matter of weeks, and the future looks fairly bright all of the sudden. Things look even brighter now, as McMahon has picked up his fourth commit in the 2022 cycle in [autotag]Shawn Phillips Jr.[/autotag]

The 6-foot-10 center from Dream City Christian in Glendale, Arizona, was previously committed to North Carolina State, signing back in November. But he was released from his letter of intent after the departure of assistant Mike Summey, and he reopened his recruitment.

He took an official visit to Baton Rouge on May 7 after listing LSU among a top five which also included Georgetown, Kansas State, Miami and Overtime Elite.

He’s a four-star recruit and the No. 111 player (and No. 20 center) in the 2022 recruiting class. After the Tigers saw each of their commits in the class depart following the firing of Will Wade, McMahon has put together a class that ranked No. 17 before Phillips’ addition and is sure to jump even more now.

Phillips is the third blue-chip addition to that group, joining top-100 prospects in [autotag]Tyrell Ward[/autotag] and [autotag]Jalen Reed[/autotag].

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Matt McMahon is rebuilding LSU basketball at lightning speed

McMahon has turned the program around in a very short amount of time.

Two months ago, LSU basketball was in shambles. Every scholarship player had entered the transfer portal, and the rebuild ahead looked as messy as any in recent memory.

There was speculation that some big names wouldn’t even accept the job because of the position the program was in. Not only had every player left, but NCAA sanctions were looming (and they still are).

LSU is a big-time athletics program, but in basketball, it’s far from a blue blood. The program doesn’t recruit itself like Duke or Kentucky does.

When [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] took the job, he was staring down the impossible. Nobody expected much out of him for his first year or two on the job — hence the seven-year contract given to him providing security and breathing room.

The roster McMahon was going to be working with during his first season was supposed to be a collection of mid-major transfers, three-star recruits, and maybe a couple of guys that followed him from Murray State. Whatever that expectation was, McMahon has far exceeded it.

McMahon was able to bring three of his players from Murray State in [autotag]Justice Hill[/autotag], [autotag]KJ Williams[/autotag], and [autotag]Trae Hannibal[/autotag].

That trio makes up three of the top four scorers from a Murray State team that went 31-3. Williams led the team in scoring with 18 points/game on his way to winning conference player of the year.

Hill averaged 13.4 points and 5.1 assists per contest as a sophomore and Hannibal proved to be a solid piece as well with 9.2 points and 5.1 rebounds on average.

Murray State didn’t face top competition, but a 31-3 record is a 31-3 record no matter the schedule, and McMahon brought the core with him.

Then there are the guys McMahon has gotten out of high school, which might be his most impressive feat considering how late in the game it is for the 2022 recruiting class. So far, the Tigers have added forwards [autotag]Tyrell Ward[/autotag] and [autotag]Jalen Reed[/autotag].

Ward is a four-star on average, but On3 has him slated as a five-star. Regardless, he’s a top recruit and there were a lot of people who didn’t think LSU would be landing players of Ward’s caliber again for a few years.

Reed was another big get, ranking as one of the 10 best power forwards in his class.

All of this was cemented last week when [autotag]Adam Miller[/autotag] announced he’d be returning to LSU. Miller transferred from Illinois prior to last season but tore his ACL before the year even started. When Miller went down, LSU’s offense took a large hit that was evident throughout the year.

If he was healthy last season, it’s likely that LSU doesn’t go home in the first round. That team was one scorer away from being dangerous. With Miller back in the fold, the talented freshman, and the guys from Murray State, McMahon is now working with a competent roster.

Along with Miller, McMahon also managed to get [autotag]Mwani Wilkinson[/autotag] and [autotag]Justice Williams[/autotag] back from the portal, two players who are likely to contribute next season. Wilkinson, despite having a limited role, was a starter last year.

McMahon has proven he can get the most out of his team, and if he gets the most out of this one, is it crazy to see LSU as an eight or nine seed? Of course, they’d have to avoid a postseason ban, but crazier things have happened in this sport.

McMahon took over a program in dire straits and has already laid a foundation. If this track continues, it’s not hard to see a scenario where he keeps LSU basketball relevant at a time when it looked like that relevancy was fading.

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Guard Adam Miller withdraws from transfer portal, will return to LSU

Miller arrived in Baton Rouge last offseason with high expectations, but a torn ACL sidelined him for the entire season.

Coach [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] is cooking with gas in Baton Rouge, now.

On Friday, the Tigers got some colossal news when it was announced that guard [autotag]Adam Miller[/autotag], who entered the transfer portal following the conclusion of the 2021-22 season, would withdraw from the portal and return to LSU.

Miller said on April 29 that he had narrowed his choices down to transferring to TCU or remaining with the Tigers, and he has now made his choice. He becomes the third player to withdraw from the portal since McMahon was hired, joining guard [autotag]Justice Williams[/autotag] and forward [autotag]Mwani Wilkinson[/autotag].

The news that Miller would be returning to the team was first reported by college hoops insider Jon Rothstein.

Miller later confirmed that decision himself via his Twitter account.

He transferred into the program from Illinois last offseason with high expectations. A former four-star recruit and consensus top-50 prospect from Chicago, Miller started all 31 games he appeared in as a true freshman for the Fighting Illini, averaging 8.3 points per game while shooting a very solid 34% from three-point range.

He was expected to be a major part of LSU’s offense this season, but a torn ACL before it began held him off the court, and he took a redshirt year.

With Miller back in the fold, the Tigers shore up their backcourt quite a bit, and he will have a good chance of earning a starting spot for the team this fall.

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LSU coach Matt McMahon picks up another transfer from Murray State

The Tigers have now added three former Racers players in the transfer portal.

The task set before new LSU coach [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] was a tall one when he arrived on the bayou.

He had to rebuild the Tigers’ roster almost essentially from scratch. While it remains to be seen how the group will actually look on the court, he’s done an incredibly impressive job of that, restocking an empty recruiting class with talented players and adding even more through the transfer portal.

The latest addition for McMahon is [autotag]K.J. Williams[/autotag], a 6-foot-10 power forward from Murray State. Williams told On3 of his decision on Thursday.

“I chose LSU because I have great relationships with the coaches and it’s on a bigger stage where I know I could play,” Williams said. “Me being in the position I’m in, I know I can play in the SEC against top players in the country.”

Williams was a four-year contributor for the Racers. The Mississippi native became a full-time starter two years ago, starting every game he’s appeared in since. He averaged a career-high 18 points this past season with 8.4 rebounds, and he’s averaged in double figures scoring each of the last three seasons.

LSU has now added three players from Murray State via the transfer portal, as Williams joins [autotag]Justice Hill[/autotag] and [autotag]Trae Hannibal[/autotag]. He’ll be a fifth-year senior during his final year of eligibility in 2022-23, and he should provide a veteran impact for the Tigers’ frontcourt next season.

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Mwani Wilkinson and Justice Williams cement LSU legacies by deciding to stay

Wilkinson and Williams were the ones that stuck around when they had every reason to leave.

There are 101 ways to become a legend in college sports.

It’s one of the many things that make collegiate sports so fun to follow. There’s a passion there that is unrivaled in American sports and because of that, little things become big things. Moments and decisions that may seem trivial can begin to carry more meaning.

If you were writing a screenplay about LSU men’s basketball’s last couple of months, you’d probably have new coach [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] walk in and look at an empty locker room, hands on hips, wondering where all his players went. It’s dramatic and probably didn’t actually play out that way, but you get the point.

It looked like everyone was gone, every scholarship player that LSU had on its roster was in the transfer portal. With [autotag]Will Wade[/autotag] on the move, so were they. The situation was so dire that it’s hard to draw any parallels.

Continuing the story, about 20 or so pages into that script, you’d have a moment where a couple of players decide to stick around. They’d march into McMahon’s office and say, “Coach, I’m not going anywhere.”

Again, that’s probably not how this happened, but [autotag]Mwani Wilkinson[/autotag] and [autotag]Justice Williams[/autotag] deciding to return from the transfer portal and stick around LSU gives you that feeling. These are the guys that stayed when it was easy to leave.

The guys that left don’t deserve any criticism. With the incoming sanctions and the coach that brought them to Baton Rouge gone, it makes sense to explore other places. Nobody gets to play college sports forever, and players have to make the most of it. With that said, Wilkinson and Williams deserve all the praise in the world for sticking around.

It’s the type of move that automatically puts a player in the fan-favorite category. Even if the play on the court isn’t great, when Wilkinson and Williams do eventually move on from LSU, this is the thing that will be remembered.

I don’t know what exactly made them come back. Maybe it was McMahon or maybe they looked around and saw prime playing time at an SEC school. Either way, they are back.

Both now have a chance to make this their team. With the current state of the roster, the opportunity is there. They have a chance to anchor LSU through these next couple of years and especially in 2022. There won’t be much pressure, they just have to go out there and play.

I don’t know how good they will end up being, but the potential is there. Williams could have been in high school last year but started an SEC basketball game. Wilkinson got plenty of minutes on a talented team, playing with an energy that was hard to match.

These are legit players and should be a pivotal part in this program going forward.

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Shaq says he supports his son Shareef O’Neal’s decision to transfer from LSU

The elder O’Neal and former LSU star voiced his support for his son, who entered the transfer portal last week.

LSU expected to see some attrition this offseason in the aftermath of the decision to fire men’s basketball coach [autotag]Will Wade[/autotag]. But nobody expected quite the roster turnover we’ve seen in Baton Rouge over the last couple of weeks.

Since the Tigers lost to Iowa State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, new coach [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] has seen the entire roster depart, either to the 2022 NBA draft (in the case of [autotag]Tari Eason[/autotag] and [autotag]Darius Days[/autotag]) or the transfer portal.

Among the latter group is LSU legacy [autotag]Shareef O’Neal[/autotag], whose father [autotag]Shaquille O’Neal[/autotag] had a legendary career with the Tigers before going on to have an even more legendary career in the NBA.

The younger O’Neal, who joined the Tigers as a transfer from UCLA two years ago, was never able to make much of an impact on the court and entered the transfer portal last week. In an appearance on The Big Podcast, Shaq voiced his support for his son’s decision to transfer.

“Wherever he decides I’m behind him,” Shaq said. “He’s a grown man making a decision and has kinda had a lot of basketball bad luck… We go to LSU where I thought they would take care of him but they didn’t, they have their own problem down there. I hope wherever he goes he gets a shot.

“I have a Giannis (Antetokounmpo) with a jump shot, that’s how I raised him… but people don’t know.”

That’s quite a lofty comparison, but O’Neal certainly has the talent. The former top-50 recruit has disappointed to this point in his career, though.

O’Neal was originally committed to Arizona in high school before the same investigation that is ironically now plaguing LSU resulted in the termination of coach Sean Miller. He ended up in Westwood, where he averaged just 10.2 minutes, 2.2 points and 2.9 rebounds in 13 games as a true freshman.

In Baton Rouge, those numbers haven’t changed much. He registered a career-high in points this past season with 2.9 per game, but his average minutes per game dropped from 14.9 to 9.2.

O’Neal will be a senior in 2022-23 but has an extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19. He will hope to finally shake the “basketball bad luck,” as his father put it, at his next stop.

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How painful was LSU’s first-round NCAA Tournament loss?

ESPN ranked the Tigers’ loss as the 52nd most painful among 66 losses during the tournament.

Though the Final Four was ultimately fairly chalky, it was a wild NCAA Tournament this year as a whole. There were a number of high-profile upsets, especially during the first weekend.

One such victim was LSU, who lost its opening matchup as the No. 6 seed vs. 11-seeded Iowa State. The Cyclones ultimately made a Sweet 16 run before falling to Miami.

It was a disappointing way for the season to end, but it also wasn’t exactly surprising. The Tigers entered the tournament with bigger concerns, as head coach [autotag]Will Wade[/autotag] had just been fired as a result of the NCAA’s Notice of Allegations regarding violations within the program. Interim coach [autotag]Kevin Nickelberry[/autotag] led the team into the postseason.

While any postseason exit short of a national title hurts, especially when it comes in upset fashion, it’s hard to fault LSU too much for this one given the circumstances. ESPN agreed, and in it’s “pain index” for every loss in the tournament, the Tigers’ ranked just No. 52 out of 66. It was also ranked the lowest of any loss by a power conference team.

How they lost: No. 11 seed Iowa State defeated the Tigers 59-54 in the first round

Peak win probability: 74.0% (LSU 5, Iowa State 4, 17:22 mark of first half)

How much it hurt: LSU’s NCAA tournament circumstances were bizarre, and not for the first time, as the school finally ousted scandal-plagued coach Will Wade on the eve of the 2022 tournament and was led by an interim coach for the second time in four years. It was hard to know whether a talented but inconsistent Tigers group would rally around interim coach Kevin Nickelberry or would have one foot in the transfer portal. The results were somewhere in between. LSU fell behind 24-12 in the first half but didn’t quit, tying it at 31-31 in the second half and heading into the final two minutes down 51-50 and holding a chance. But the Cyclones’ Tyrese Hunter hit two dagger 3s in the closing minutes, the Tigers missed a couple of key free throws, and the game went to ISU.

“We were in the game till the end,” Nickelberry said afterward. “I said all week it’s just basketball, but the distractions were a lot and these guys still fought through those distractions, went out and gave LSU a chance to win tonight.”

Given the events that immediately followed, it’s no surprise the Tigers were distracted. Every player on the roster either entered the 2022 NBA draft or the transfer portal following the season, meaning LSU will literally be starting from scratch next season.

New coach [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] will certainly have his hands full, but regardless, the NCAA Tournament loss with an interim coach likely isn’t one that will sting Tigers fans for years to come.

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LSU basketball coach Matt McMahon adds final assistant to complete staff

The Tigers added the final piece to their new coaching staff in Ole Miss assistant Ronnie Hamilton.

The Tigers have now completed their on-court basketball staff under new coach [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag]. The former Murray State coach already added Memphis assistant [autotag]Cody Toppert[/autotag] and former Racers assistant [autotag]Casey Long[/autotag].

On Friday, [autotag]Ronnie Hamilton[/autotag] agreed to join McMahon’s staff, providing the final piece of the puzzle. Hamilton has experience as an SEC assistant, coming from Ole Miss, where he spent the last four years and primarily worked with guards.

Hamilton followed coach Kermit Davis from Middle Tennessee State, where the pair worked together for an additional four years. Before that, he worked as an assistant at Houston, Tulane, The Citadel and Division II Tarleton State.

Hamilton has an undergraduate degree from Duke, where he was a four-year letterman for the Blue Devils in football rather than basketball, playing defensive back.

This new staff certainly has its hands full. Every player from last year’s team has now either entered the 2022 NBA draft or the transfer portal. McMahon and Co. have already added three players through the portal themselves, and they will need to add quite a bit more between now and the beginning of the season.

But with a full staff in place, the Tigers can hit the trail at maximum strength, which should help in convincing transfers to head to Baton Rouge despite potential impending sanctions.

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