It has been an absolutely wild start to the offseason so far for the SEC. In total, six of the 14 programs have made a coaching change.
Georgia fired coach Tom Crean and replaced him by hiring Mike White away from Florida. The Gators, in turn, hired Todd Golden from San Francisco. Missouri (Cleveland State’s Dennis Gates), Mississippi State (New Mexico State’s Chris Jans) and South Carolina (Chattanooga’s Lamont Paris) also made changes.
Included in that list is, of course, LSU. Unlike most other programs on this list, the Tigers fired [autotag]Will Wade[/autotag] in spite of guiding the team to the NCAA Tournament after he was cited in a Notice of Allegations. Replacing Wade is Murray State’s [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag].
McMahon has taken the Racers to three tournaments since taking over in 2015, and his 31-3 finish this season was the best of his career. In the rankings of the new SEC basketball coaches from The State newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, McMahon stands atop the list.
McMahon had his name thrown around for just about every major college opening in America this cycle and with good reason.
He finishes his time at Murray State as the winningest head coach at the school since 1975, recruited Ja Morant and owns two of the Racers’ five second round NCAA tournament appearances.
There was some thought McMahon would land at South Carolina given, among other reasons, he and Gamecocks football coach Shane Beamer have been friends dating back to their time as graduate assistants at Tennessee. Instead, McMahon heads to Baton Rouge with LSU under a cloud of NCAA sanctions.
The Tigers fired Will Wade for a slew of major NCAA violations, and while it’s unclear what kind of punishment the school will face, it’s likely to be severe.
That said, LSU is one of the better basketball jobs in the league and will pay as such. McMahon is slated to make between $2.6 million and $3.2 million annually over the duration of his seven-year contract, per The Advocate.
This might take time for McMahon to build depending on how hard the NCAA cracks down, but he profiles like a home run if he’s given ample time.
McMahon wasn’t exactly the splashy hire athletics director Scott Woodward has become known for, but given LSU’s historical standing as a basketball program and the fact that there are likely some sanctions from the NCAA coming down the pipeline, it’s hard to imagine that he could have convinced a proven coach at a power program to make the jump right now.
Instead, the Tigers get a young candidate in McMahon with a high ceiling and progressive offensive coaching style. It’s a very solid if slightly underwhelming hire that should keep the newfound success going in Baton Rouge.
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