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Basketball is a team sport which utilizes five players on the court at any one time. In addition to the starting five players, most teams (high school, college, and professional) rarely utilize more than ten players during any particular game.
When I saw the headline yesterday about LSU losing its eleventh player to the NCAA’s new escape hatch called the transfer portal or (good luck) the NBA, I immediately went to the team’s website (www.lsusports.net) to take a closer look at last year’s team.
In the recently concluded 2021-2022 season, the LSU men’s basketball team finished with a respectable 22-12 record. The season ended with a first round loss to Iowa State in the NCAA March Madness tournament two weeks ago.
Over the course of the entire basketball season (which included 30+ point blow-out wins over UL-Monroe, McNeese, and Northwestern State), LSU utilized a total of 16 basketball players in those 34 games.
Closer inspection of the stats showed that just nine LSU men’s basketball players hit the hardwood in more than half of the team’s games. Even former LSU and NBA Hall-of-Famer Shaquille O’Neal’s son, Shareef, played in just 14 games last season.
Nothing looks fishy about the stats. Most minutes go to the starting five and a few key bench players.
As a former high school basketball player, you become supremely motivated when riding the bench as a younger player to earn a chance for more playing time in future years. You try to soak in and learn as much as possible on the bench while committing to work harder to achieve a chance for more playing time in the following seasons.
That’s apparently not the case at LSU as eleven of the team’s players are heading for the exits.
OK, it’s time to remind you that LSU’s head basketball coach, Will Wade, was fired (with cause) in early March prior to the Tigers’ recent one-and-done appearance in the NCAA men’s tournament. In addition, his primary assistant (Associate Head Coach) Bill Armstrong was terminated as well.
LSU President Willam Tate and Director of Athletics Scott Woodward penned an open letter to LSU sports fans on March 12. Here is what Dr. Tate said in a key portion of this letter:
“For more than four years, the University has patiently allowed the NCAA investigative process to unfold, jointly working with the NCAA Enforcement Staff and, subsequently, with the Complex Case Unit (CCU), to ensure the evidence collected was as thorough and fair as possible. Throughout that time, the University and its men’s basketball program have operated under an exhausting shroud of negativity. Per NCAA rules and procedures, we are unable to provide further comment on the IARP process, the contents of the Notice of Allegations, or today’s decision.”
I highlighted the final sentence, because most sports fans will presume that’s why the eleven LSU men’s basketball players have recently decided to bolt from the program. It appears that LSU men’s basketball is headed for some serious sanctions soon.
Why would so many of the basketball players leave now?
If you were an LSU men’s basketball player who sat on the bench for most of last season after earning a scholarship for being the best basketball player on your high school team and within your home region, why would you leave LSU now? If your intent was to showcase your basketball skills at the major college level, the deck has just been cleared for you to step-up this coming season and shine. Your athletics scholarship allows you to have your room and board paid and a chance to attend college classes at Louisiana’s flagship state university.
Seriously, what more could you ask for?
If a student-athlete wanted a chance to compete at the highest level and, perhaps, dream of a chance to play professional basketball in a few seasons, why would you leave? No matter what the NCAA doles out as punishment, the chances are very good that the men’s basketball team will still be allowed to compete in all but post-season action.
As a college basketball player, you will have the chance to participate in no less than thirty regular season games and play in the SEC. Isn’t that why you came to LSU in the first place?
UNLESS…
You have direct knowledge that the former LSU men’s basketball coach was providing benefits which were not permitted by the NCAA rules (cash or otherwise) to certain players on your team.
With eleven LSU basketball players making the decision to jump from a sinking ship instead of hanging around the Pete Maravich Assembly Center next season with a better chance of getting some playing time, it certainly gives the impression that all/most/some of the LSU men’s players either received some of those benefits or have direct knowledge about the specifics but may prefer to claim “selective amnesia” about those details.
It makes you wonder exactly why any of these players were attending LSU in the first place. Were they simply being paid to show up at the school to play college basketball without taking much of an interest in an academic pursuit to provide them with a career after basketball?
Don’t laugh, but LSU’s biggest mistake was that they were caught in the act.
The former men’s basketball coach apparently wasn’t as clever as other high profile college basketball coaches who have artfully perfected methods to provide incoming players with an assortment of financial enticements in trade for their services on the basketball court. The key is not being caught in the process, of course.
After Will Wade was hired in 2017, the LSU men’s basketball program suddenly started to land a few of the so-called top high school players. When highly coveted players suddenly start coming to LSU instead of Duke, Kentucky, and a few other high profile schools, it apparently required some additional “enticements” in order to convince a few of these fine young men to become part of a terrific turnaround story in Baton Rouge.
LSU’s former basketball coach was caught cheating, but the rats jumping ship from the LSU men’s hoops program after his dismissal speaks volumes about them, too. If any of those players wanted to play major college basketball and get a free college education, the opportunity remained right in front of them by remaining in Baton Rouge.
Do they really believe that a more prominent basketball name is going to want to take a chance on them after leaving LSU’s radioactive program?
Why would a player leave now if he has done nothing wrong? If your ultimate goal is to play professional basketball, the NBA will be able to make a decision about your future even if your school isn’t able to participate in the post-season. There will still be thirty regular season games to be played.
Thankfully, the page is already turning at LSU.
Matt McMahon was recently announced as the school’s new men’s basketball coach.
The past seven seasons, he was the head coach at Murray State University in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Coach McMahon has already endeared himself to Tiger fans by saying, “I’m excited to join the best athletic department – and the most iconic brand – in all of college sports. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me, and I cannot wait to get to work.”
With no scholarship players coming back to LSU for next season, Matt McMahon is already at work cobbling together a new men’s basketball team. Based on his track record at Murray State, the new coach should do fine over time. If the NCAA should bring the sanctions hammer down on the LSU men’s basketball team soon, the LSU administration and fans should cut the new coach some slack for a few years to rebuild the program.
Meanwhile, former LSU coach Will Wade and his top assistant were rightfully fired for their part in this slowly unraveling scandal. They deserve to be tagged as cheaters for the remainder of their coaching careers.
What should happen to any of the former LSU men’s basketball players who received improper financial inducements to play ball in Baton Rouge? Didn’t they break the NCAA rules, too?
The college basketball system is definitely broken, and that’s another story for another day.
One thing is certain. Money (as always) will continue to be a primary factor if we are ever going to see any substantive changes.