re: Where my McMen at?!?!?!

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People still don't realize the hand MM was given.

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People realize he took over the program under adverse circumstances. NO ONE has ever disputed that.

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The NCAA really went after LSU for not firing Wade.

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LSU did fire Wade. That's why McMahon is here. But assuming you meant to say "for not firing Wade [img]earlier[/img]", the sanctions LSU ultimately received were pretty minimal. So I'm not sure what you mean by "really went after LSU".

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They put a cloud over the program that hurt recruiting
very badly.

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Reality suggest it didn't hurt McMahon "badly". KJ Williams was a highly sought after transfer. He had several power conf. options besides LSU and it's ominous "cloud of uncertainty". Yet he chose to follow his HC. Justice Hill didn't play well in his one season at LSU. But following the 21-22 season at Murray St. where he was the 3rd leading scorer and averaged 5 assist per game, he had other options besides LSU. Yet, he also followed McMahon. Tyrell Ward was a high 4/5 star recruit. He was initially a Wade target. He had other options besides LSU. Yet, he chose LSU. Jalen Reed, a top 70 recruit, decommitted from Florida after their coaching change. He had offers from other major programs...and chose LSU. Shawn Phillips was a fringe top 100 prospects with offers from multiple major conf. schools. He likewise chose LSU. Adam Miller was a starter on a No. 1 seed Illinois team. He chose to transfer to LSU because of Wade and was the very first player to express heartbreak when Wade was fired. He had options to go elsewhere that didn't have a "cloud of uncertainty". Same for Wilkinson who visited Texas Tech while in the portal. The point is ALL of those guys had options outside of LSU. So them choosing to attend LSU flies in the face of the narrative that the "black cloud" significantly hurt recruiting. If that were the case LSU would have been left with nothing but JUCO guys and mid-major players off the scrap heap with nowhere else to go. Yet, the roster McMahon assembled was projected by everyone who followed college basketball to be a mid-tier SEC team in what was expected to be a strong SEC. The narrative that LSU was left with nothing ONLY developed after McMahon did a terrible job and finished with a record far worse than anyone predicted.

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The NCAA even waited till the early signing period was over before they finally closed the book on an potential punishment. Coming up for the late signing period and potential portal additions, we are now on equal footing with everyone else and the previous negative recruiting concerning possible probation can't be used any more.

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The 2-16 SEC record hurt LSU's recruiting FAR worse than any "dark cloud" some fans swear existed. When you have a season that puts you at the bottom of all major conf. programs you are not exactly a desirable destination. But even now, McMahon's first HS recruting class still remains his highest ranked class. And he signed it within months after Wade's firing and with no certainty in the program. A time when this "cloud" should have been darkest.

The bottom line is he had an absolute dogshit performance last season. The team didn't mesh, the key guys didn't perform as well as hoped (except for KJ) and the coaching decisions were curious (at best). As a result he lost all benefit of the doubt.

This year he has earned some of that back with the SEC performance and LSU will go into the offseason with the most positive momentum the program has had in 3 off-seasons. The unknown is will that positive momentum lead to a positive offseason? That means retaining key players and securing good transfers. The HS class, though only 2 players, is fine.

I think the issue is that most folks who comment are basketball fans only for about 2-3 months of the year and don't really follow the sport as a whole. That's fine. You like what you like. But I think in just being a casual fan they think the mass roster turnover LSU experienced when Wade was fired was unique to LSU because they are viewing things through the prism of a college basketball before the transfer era that no longer exist. It's not. It's become commonplace that when a coaching change is made significant roster turnover comes with it.

Texas Tech made a coaching change last season. Their new HC had to bring in 8 new players for this year.

St. John's made a coaching change. They ended up losing every player on the roster! And that was with HOF coach Rick Pitino coming in who has done nothing but win his entire college career. He had to bring in 12 new players.

Ole Miss made a coaching change...and promptly lost 10 players.

K-State made a coaching change last year...and lost 11 players.

LSU's big roster turnover was not because they were under investigation. It's because that's what happens now when there is a coaching change.