What Kind of Impact Can Matt McMahon Have on LSU Recruiting?
Set to be introduced officially by LSU on Wednesday, new men's basketball coach Matt McMahon is likely already hard at work. This is obviously a unique position to be in from a number of perspectives but perhaps most importantly from a recruiting perspective.
Because not only will McMahon have a huge responsibility in filling out a potential 2022 class, transfer portal but also recruiting this current roster.
The ideal formula is to get on the phone with the current crop of young talent on the roster, including Adam Miller, Eric Gaines, Alex Fudge, Efton Reid, Mwani Wilkinson and Justice Williams. If McMahon can make his pitch to even just one or two of those players to stick around for next season it would make a world of difference.
But the fact of the matter is this program is likely to undergo a major roster reconstruction and that will have to come mainly through the transfer portal. What McMahon has going for him is that he's proven to be a strong recruiter in bringing in not necessarily high profile transfer players or high school prospects.
He gets the most out of his teams with the talent he's able to bring into his program at Murray State and will certainly need to carry on that philosophy in his first few seasons in Baton Rouge. In 2021-22, McMahon was able to find some productive players in transfer talents Justice Hill out of Salt Lake Community College, Trae Hannibal from South Carolina and forward DJ Burns out of Southern.
Hill joined McMahon and the Racers program in 2020-21 but really broke out on to the scene this past season. Hannibal would average 9.2 points per game and shooting 51% from the field while Hill was one of the most impressive players in the conference, averaging 13.4 points and 5.2 assists for the Racers. Burns, a New Orleans native, wound up averaging 5.8 points and 6.3 rebounds a contest in a reserve role.
With those three playing integral roles as former transfers, it just goes to show another layer that McMahon has to his recruiting chops that will be necessary to stay competitive at LSU the first few seasons. So much in college basketball recruiting is about the relationships forged between players and coach.
All three of those players McMahon recruited to Murray State still have eligibility left and are coming off a 31-3 regular season. The SEC is no doubt a step up in play from the Ohio Valley Conference so McMahon will have to find that balance and most importantly start building as many relationships with the current players on LSU's roster as possible.
SI basketball recruiting director Jason Jordan thinks there’s plenty left for McMahon to prove as a Power 5 recruiter.
“The reality is that a lot remains to be seen for McMahon as a recruiter at the P5 level. He hasn’t taken many swings at top tier talent for typical reasons, but his resume speaks for itself, and he has tangible variables that I think could sway elite talent to Baton Rouge.
“For starters, he’s a winner; that’s going to be his biggest selling point on the recruiting trail. He also plays in March, making the NCAA tournament 60% of the time over the last five years. He’ll obviously point to how he featured Ja [Morant] in the offense and allowed him freedom to operate, which will certainly sell talented guards. The issue he and LSU will run into is the unknown with the NCAA. It’s a tool I can tell you coaches are already using against him and one that they’ll continue to use. That’s just the nature of the beast.”
More about McMahon's plan and vision will become more clear on Wednesday during his press conference but there's little doubt about the important work ahead.
