Report: NCAA Grants LSU Basketball Big Man Bryan Penn-Johnson Eligibility Waiver
LSU transfer center Bryan Penn-Johnson has been granted an eligibility waiver by the NCAA, according to a report from Jon Rothstein.
With the official grant of eligibility for Penn-Johnson, the Tigers receive some depth in the front court as a potential starter. After months of searching for a big man that can protect the rim and be a force on the boards, coach Will Wade narrowed his focus on the Washington transfer.
As a redshirt freshman for Washington a season ago, Penn-Johnson averaged 1.8 points and 0.8 rebounds in six appearances. The 7-foot-1 center has a 7-foot-7 wingspan, perfect measurables for what Wade and the Tigers need.
He’ll join a loaded front court in Baton Rouge that includes Darius Days, Trendon Watford, Josh LeBlanc, and Shareef O'Neal. The Tigers are still waiting on confirmation from the NCAA on O’Neal’s waiver after his decision to transfer from UCLA after the 2019 season as well as Leblanc, who transferred from Georgetown in the middle of the season.
Adding two seven footers in freshman Josh Gray and Bryan Penn-Johnson should help the Tigers be more versatile in the way they use other forwards on the roster like Watford, O’Neal and LeBlanc.
“We’re going to be a little bit longer, a little bit more athletic,” Wade said in a recent appearance on Off the Bench.
LSU enters 2020 as one of the favorites to come out of the SEC with the return of Watford, Days and Javonte Smart.
“I think we're close to having a great great team that will compete at the top of the SEC and compete in the top 10 to 15 nationally and be one of those teams that's in the hunt," Wade said back in May. "If it all comes together like we hope, we'd have all the pieces in place that we would need to be a major, major player on the national scene."
