GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU’s legendary men’s basketball sports information director Kent Lowe needed a starting lineup for his notes printout Monday going into tonight’s exhibition against Loyola of New Orleans at 7 p.m. at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
But coach Matt McMahon was still figuring that out before a practice Monday afternoon. So Lowe, who has been the Tigers’ basketball SID since the days of Shaquille O’Neal and Chris Jackson in the late 1980s, made his own.
FULL MATT MCHAHON PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO
And apparently, he wants a full-court game because he’s starting four guards – senior transfers Cam Carter (6-3, 190) from Kansas State, Jordan Sears (5-foot-11, 185) from Tennessee-Martin, Dji Bailey (6-5, 195) from Richmond and returning sophomore Mike Williams (6-3, 180), along with returning junior forward Jalen Reed (6-10, 240).
Carter averaged 14.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists last season in 34 starts and is one of the Tigers’ top transfers. Sears is another top get after averaging 21.6 points a game last year with 4.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists a game in 32 starts. He also is the only active Division I player in the nation who last season scored at least 650 points with 140 rebounds and 140 assists along with 75 made 3-pointers.
So, Lowe knows basketball.
Bailey averaged 10.2 points with 4.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists a game last season. Williams put up 7.2 points a game with 2.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.2 steals in 22 starts at LSU. And Reed averaged 7.9 points and 4.1 rebounds a game for the Tigers in 20 starts.
“I hadn’t seen it,” McMahon said when told of Lowe’s lineup. “Who we got?”
After being handed the lineup, McMahon quickly looked at it.
“Year 37 for Kent. So, that’s all good,” he said.
“It was a coin flip. I had five spaces,” Lowe explained.
“He’s got some correct in there,” McMahon said. “We’ll figure it out at practice.”
McMahon does like his three transfer guards.
“They have almost 7,000 minutes of college experience,” he said. “That’s just so valuable – all the battles they’ve been through. In their own way, they all have started to emerge in the leadership role, which will be critically important to us.”
And he agreed with Lowe’s selection of Reed.
“Jalen Reed will definitely be one of the five starters,” he said. “He’s had a terrific off-season.”
The Tigers will also unveil the No. 14 recruiting class in the nation, according to 247Sports.com, with No. 6 point guard Curtis Graves III (6-2, 170) of Montverde Academy in Florida, No. 12 power forward Robert Miller (6-10, 225) of Memorial High in Pasadena, Texas, and No. 17 shooting guard Vyctorius Miller (6-5, 170) of Compass Prep in Chandler, Arizona.
“A lot of excitement with the the talent in the freshmen class,” McMahon said.
Other returnees are senior forward Derek Fountain (6-10, 220), who scored 5.3 a game with 4.2 rebounds in 12 starts at LSU last season, and junior guard Tyrell Ward (6-6, 195), who scored 9.1 a game in 10 starts and was the team’s best 3-point shooter at 41 percent.
Two players who red-shirted last season could be major impacts – junior forward Daimion Collins (6-9, 200), a very talented transfer from Kentucky, and freshman forward Corey Chest (6-8, 220), a 2023 LSU signee.
“A common theme is a lot of length, a lot of athleticism,” McMahon said of his roster overall. “Some guys who really enable us to play up tempo on both sides.”
The Tigers open the season for real on Wednesday, Nov. 6 against Louisiana-Monroe on Dale Brown Court.
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