LSU Coach Will Wade Raves About Newest Georgetown Transfer Josh Leblanc
It's not too often that you'll hear LSU coach Will Wade gush about a player on his team for nearly five minutes, much less someone that has yet to log a single minute for the purple and gold.
But when Wade mentioned LSU's newest transfer Josh Leblanc has the chance to go down as one of the truly special defenders to grace LSU's campus, all ears perked up. Suffice it to say, Wade is excited by Leblanc.
"He’s going to be so good, he’s better than I thought. He’s long, he’s athletic, and he’s maybe our best defender," Wade said.
A 6-foot-7 Baton Rouge native and former four-star recruit out of Madison Prep Academy, Leblanc spent two years with Georgetown, where he averaged 8.8 points and 6.6 rebounds in 39 appearances with the Hoyas. Leblanc ultimately left the Hoyas after temporary restraining orders were filed against him and two of his teammates, according to a CBS Sports report.
The case has since been dropped and Leblanc will be eligible to play as early as next December for the Tigers.
Leblanc has only been on campus for a few weeks, but the impact he's already making on the court in practice has helped the players a ton during this 10-game win streak.
"He’s raised the level of our scout team play in practice," Wade said. "Adding Josh to that group in the middle of the season has helped raise our level and that’s probably why we’ve been able to string together a few wins because we get so much resistance in practice. Our guys understand that if you don’t bring your best, if you don’t cut hard, if you don’t finish hard at the rim, if you don’t do what you’re supposed to do, your shot is going to be blocked. You can’t get away with the same mistakes you got away with earlier in the year. When we were preparing for Alabama, Josh did an unbelievable job of being Herb Jones.”
Wade said Leblanc's presence has given more confidence to the scout team as a whole, a unit that includes redshirts Caleb Starks and Parker Edwards as well as sophomore Courtese Cooper.
"Caleb is redshirting for us and he’s gotten a lot better. I was talking to him after individual workouts this morning about how much better he’s gotten," Wade said. "Parker Edwards is getting stronger and better shape. I think he’s a guy that can have a role for us like Marshall (Graves) does. Courtese is getting better, I feel comfortable putting him in a game now."
On the court, there are still a few points of emphasis Wade wants Leblanc to focus on while he must sit out. Ideally, Wade wants to add some weight to the 6-foot-7, 230-pound forward but he also wants Leblanc to start getting into more of a daily routine, which Wade said the player has been open and responsive to thus far.
"He’s got to even his body out a little bit, and we have to get him some offensive skills," Wade said. "He does a great job finishing and catching but we are in the process of changing his shot and working on his ball handling."
That routine includes a 40-minute workout everyday in addition to practice, film sessions and other scheduled priorities Wade has laid out for Leblanc. If all goes well and LSU gets the kind of growth out of Leblanc that Wade and the coaching staff are expecting, he could be a true difference-maker for the Tigers in 2020.
"He’s got a lot of natural gifts, just God-given ability, and we have to polish him up a little bit," Wade said. "He’s going to be a phenomenal player for us. He will maybe be the best defensive player we’ve had since we’ve been here in terms of deflections and blocked shots. He just kind of shows up and you are like, “dang, you were just out there on the ball screen and now you’re blocking a shot.'”
