By CODY WORSHAM
Tiger Rag Editor
LSU’s 2016 basketball signing class, featuring three preps and two JUCO transfers, finished ranked No. 49 in the final 247Sports Composite recruiting rankings, released Wednesday.
The group is the lowest hauled in by Johnny Jones since his arrival in 2012, two spots behind his inaugural class, which came in at No. 47 nationally.
[table]
Year, 247Sports Composite Ranking
2012, 47
2013, 6
2014, 39
2015, 9
2016, 49
[/table]
The class ranks higher in 247’s own tally, ranking 6th in the SEC and 29th nationally. Other sites fail to weight junior college signees, like Branden Jenkins and Duop Reath, who are No. 11 and No. 22 among their JUCO peers, respectively, per 247.
Point guard Skylar Mays finished as LSU’s highest-ranked prep signee, finishing at No. 139. Forward Wayde Sims (223) and Australian guard Kieran Hayward (309) also are set to join the Tigers next season.
Four Louisiana natives, none of whom signed with LSU, finished in the top 100.
- G DeJon Jarreau: 53 (UMass)
- F Robert Williams: 60 (A&M)
- F Mark Vital: 89 (Baylor)
- G Lamar Peters: 97 (Miss. St.)
LSU targeted Mays and Sims, former University High stars and teammates of Jones’ son, John Jr., ahead of the aforementioned Louisiana preps. They also targeted Jenkins and Reath for an infusion of immediate experience, after ranking in the 300s nationally in experience each of the last two seasons, per KenPom.com.
MORE TO COME?
The Tigers may not be done in 2016, however. With a May 18 deadline looming for players to sign their letters of intent, LSU is still after unsigned prospects Charlie Moore and DeShawn Corprew. Moore is a former Memphis commit, and Robert Kirby is fighting off SMU and UNLV, among others, to get the No. 71 player, a 5-foot-10 point guard from Chicago.
Corprew, meanwhile, is a 6-foot-5 swingman from Virginia with interest in Texas A&M and Kansas, as well as LSU. He is the No. 114 player in the 247 Composite.
LSU has already allotted all 13 scholarships for the 2016-17 season, so any additions would require current scholarship players to either transfer or walk-on for the Tigers next season.
TALENT REMAINS
Though LSU loses Ben Simmons and Tim Quarterman from last year’s team, as well as seniors Josh Gray and Keith Hornsby, the Tigers could still roll out a starting five of players who ranked in the top 100 of their prep recruiting classes.
[table]
Player, Class,Stars,Ranking
Skylar Mays,2016,4,95 (Rivals)
Antonio Blakeney,2015,5,13 (Rivals)
Brandon Sampson,2015,4,39 (ESPN)
Craig Victor,2014,4,37 (ESPN)
Elbert Robinson,2014,4, 56 (Rivals)
Average, –, –, 48
[/table]
Is our LSU Basketball team headed in the right direction? It appears to me that we are going backwards. How can we have the #1 player in the nation for two years and have such a dismal record. Could it possibly be “Coaching?” Just my personal observation.
Go Tigers!