Will Wade Excited About Returning Players for LSU Basketball in 2021

Five days a week for the last year, Will Wade has had a phone call with Efton Reid. The conversation could hit on a number of topics from basketball or workouts for the day to family.

In those conversations, Wade was able to get to know Reid on a personal level but also get to know his family quite well. The IMG Academy center signed with LSU just a couple of weeks ago and is set to arrive on campus in just a week along with the rest of his teammates for the 2021 season.

Wade can't wait to get to work with Reid, who gives LSU a big that can not only dominate in the paint on both ends but space the floor and grab rebounds as well.

"He can play inside, he can play out. He can protect the rim, he's big, he can move his feet and guard," Wade said. "He gives us a lot of versatility from that spot that we haven't always had. He's gonna be a critical piece for us."

Of course Reid and the trio of transfers Wade has added to the group in the last month won't be all LSU is excited about. In fact some of the players Wade is most looking forward to seeing are the ones that were on the team last season.

Sophomores Mwani Wilkinson and Eric Gaines are a few players that came to mind first as Wade is ecstatic about their potential with the program moving forward. Wilkinson was a big energy guy for the 2020 team, someone who did all of the dirty stuff for the starting lineup and while Wade wants that to continue he also wants to see more offensive assertiveness out of Wilkinson next season.

As for Gaines, Wade really liked the defensive identity he brought, particularly down the stretch of the season but in order for him to take that next leap, he needs to get more consistent with his jump shot.

"Mwani's just gotta be an offensive threat. We've talked to him about it and he's been working hard on it out in Vegas. I've got some good returns on his workouts," Wade said. "Gaines has got to develop a consistent outside shot and be able to make plays and think quickly. Some of that's stuff we're gonna work on when he gets back.

"Everybody gets excited about the shiny new toys and the transfers but we held on to the guys I believe are really, really talented and good SEC players. We've got [Alex] Fudge, Shareef, we've held on to a bunch of really talented guys who maybe didn't get the opportunity to show what they could because of some of the other guys that we had. But I think they're well positioned to move forward and help us out."

O'Neal is somebody the program had high hopes for a season ago but he just couldn't stay on the floor because of injury. He's been hard at work trying to get back from a foot injury that kept him out at the end of the season and Wade said he should be full go when the team meets up on May 24.

Fudge, like Wade mentioned, enrolled early with the program and has the chance to be a versatile defensive forward with the program in year one because of his shot blocking ability. Wade says there's still some work to do on his jump shot but that will come together this summer.

It's clear that Wade is particularly happy with the roster he was able to construct in such little time after the NCAA Tournament. But while the shiny toys will attract much of the offseason talk, Wade said LSU was able to retain the players from last season that can push this team into contention once again.