LSU Basketball Has the Talent, Depth to Make Another Splash in 2021

As Will Wade and his talented Tigers squad continue preparing for the 2021-22 season, this team has the depth and experience to make a run. Gaining a flurry of high-major transfers and young Tigers taking the next step this offseason, Coach Wade is ready to see what this unit is made of.

“I really like the group that we’ve put together,” Wade said. “I told the team the other day that it’s hard for me to get mad at them sometimes because I like them so much. They’re fun to be around, they’re fun to coach, sometimes I got to make myselfmad before I walk into practice so I can kind of get out of us what I need to get out of us somedays. I like what we have, I really think we’ve got guys – some of the newer guys in the transfers have high-major experience and high-level experience.”

Though this roster has had quite the turnaround from a season ago, Wade has been impressed with the returning Tigers from last year, namely sophomore forward Mwani Wilkinson. His growth as a player has Coach Wade raving about what’s to come this season.

"Nobody in our program has made a bigger jump than Mwani Wilkinson,” Wade said. “He played for us last year and started a bunch of games for us last year. There’s nobody that’s had a better offseason in our program than Mwani, he’s going to look like a new player especially on the offensive end - when people see him, they’re going to be shocked, he’s had a tremendous offseason.”

This program has had no shortage of guards over the last few years, but this year has depth like no other. Transfer guards Xavier Pinson and Adam Miller look to take charge for this Tigers team, but sophomore Eric Gaines also looks to make a splash.

“I tell you one thing now, Xavier Pinson now, he's better than I thought,” Wade said. “He's been a huge surprise. I knew he was a good basketball player, but just being able to play point guard and pass and see the floor, he's as good as I've seen it. Get down the seams, creating rotation and drives. He's going to be really good for us.”

Wade harped on the depth of this guard group and how freshman point guard, and IMG product, Brandon Murray gels into the mix.

“Brandon Murray, our fans are going to love him,” Wade said.“He is a pit bull. We're running five on five offense at 7 o'clock in the morning and he's cutting like we're in overtime of the National Championship game. Everything he does, he does it extremely hard and he does it the right way. He is absolutely tenacious and so we're excited about those guys in the backcourt."

Though the guard play of the Tigers gets most of the credit, the frontcourt of this team has the chance to be special. Wade raved about the tremendous playstyle of freshman center Efton Reid and the diversity he can bring to this Tigers team.

"Efton Reid is extremely, extremely skilled, especially on the offensive end,” Wade said. “He plays kind of like a European style big. He's got the jump hooks, he can make 3s, he's got a lot of offensive weapons. He’s a weapon and we’ve worked on feeding that post, we worked on it for eight minutes the other day in practice. If you cover him one on one he’s going to score every time.”

This roster has been completely flipped from a year ago and the high-major experience this squad attains can rival most SEC opponents. This team has the chance to be special under Coach Wade and putting it all together will be the primary focus as they shift their attention to the season opener.

"We'll be a tougher group than we've been,” Wade said. “We've got some tough guys so I think we'll be a little bit more grittier, grimier, little more blue collar. I like the way we are. I think we'll be improved in some areas that have been our shortcomings the past couple years."