LSU Basketball Coach Will Wade Says Offseason Additions 'Pretty Much Done' Ahead of 2021 Season
LSU basketball's roster looks dramatically different than it did just a month ago. For many, the obvious question heading into the offseason was how Will Wade and the coaching staff would rebuild a roster that lost 90% of its offensive production from the 2020-21 season.
Then Missouri guard Xavier Pinson announced his transfer to LSU. Cincinnati's Tari Eason was to follow just days later and then Illinois guard Adam Miller, who comes from a winning program that earned a No. 1 seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, also announced his transfer to the purple and gold.
All of these exciting offseason moves were capped off by the weekend addition of SI All-American top 25 player Efton Reid out of IMG Academy. It was a pretty stunning move to land Reid, who until a few weeks ago, wasn't really pegged to the purple and gold.
The level of players added to the roster over the last 30 days has been more of a retool than a rebuild and with 13 players on scholarship, Wade says the Tigers are pretty close to being finished.
"We'll poke around but we're pretty much done," Wade said on the Jordy Culotta Show Monday. "We could find room for more if it's the right kind of versatile, three-four type guy, we could probably find a little bit of room there."
Of course the major hint there is the possible return of Darius Days, who LSU basketball would love to bring back should he not get the draft feedback he anticipates over the next few weeks. But the addition of Reid will solve a ton of problems that Wade and the Tigers have had in recent years.
At 7-foot-1, he has the skill set to be a game changing player for LSU because of his post presence and ability to stretch the floor a little bit with a clean jump shot. LSU has been missing that traditional center really since Kavell Bigby-Williams and Reid's game, at least offensively, is much more versatile than Bigby-Williams.
"Getting Efton was huge," Wade said. "That's been the difference for us, we haven't had that guy who can score in the low post and play on the perimeter. He can switch defensively, he moves very well for as big as he is. That's been the difference from when we've won the league and coming in second and third. I'm sick of coming in second and third. So that was a huge piece."
