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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