Ben Simmons is not serious about LSU...

Someone alert the news channels that a freshman is having academic problems at LSU

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Someone alert the news channels that a freshman is having academic problems at LSU

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Athletes get first pick of classes/professors (aka the easiest), tutoring services, note takers, etc. Not a ton of room for excuses when you consider lsu isn't exactly the most academically challenging school.

Not just a freshman, but an athlete given every resource the university can provide and still dgaf enough to apparently make C's or care to win basketball games.

LSU was always a stepping stone

It should also be noted that he since he really isn't on a degree track, he could theoretically take 12 hours of electives. He does not need to take Math 1021, 1550, English 1001, History 1001/1003, Biol/Chemistry/Labs etc.

He can take Kinesiology courses, "leisure" courses, typing, music appreciation, the infamous "books & libraries"...

I imagine his schedule looks a lot like that.

I could be wrong.

Let's face it, he's a great player, great kid, but the Ben Simmons experiment has failed. From what I've seen the last few games, he's gone Jadeveon Clowney on us.

He is only at LSU because the NBA's collective bargaining agreement requires him to attend college for one year. The kid has been denied the opportunity to earn millions of dollars this year. He chose to spend the year at LSU. Be grateful for that.

What more do you think you, or LSU, are entitled to from Ben Simmons? Fire away.

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Posted by LuckySo-n-So online on 2/21/16 at 8:51 am to geaux.home It should also be noted that he since he really isn't on a degree track, he could theoretically take 12 hours of electives. He does not need to take Math 1021, 1550, English 1001, History 1001/1003, Biol/Chemistry/Labs etc. He can take Kinesiology courses, "leisure" courses, typing, music appreciation, the infamous "books & libraries"... I imagine his schedule looks a lot like that. I could be wrong. Let's face it, he's a great player, great kid, but the Ben Simmons experiment has failed. From what I've seen the last few games, he's gone Jadeveon Clowney on us.

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He should be taking a few finance and accounting classes. Signing big contracts doesn't help if you blow it all.

I wonder if he isn't hurting his draft status.

You could argue that him coming here has actually been worse for LSU. It has put a magnifying glass on the program and on JJ's poor coaching, and has shown that an elite recruit who comes here won't have success on the college level.

It's clear Simmons along with the rest of the team have quit on Jones. But that has not always been the case, and for LSU fans to blame him for all of the issues is completely and utterly laughable. The kid is likely going to put up an OVERALL stat-line never before seen in the SEC. He's the presumptive SEC POY. He possesses a basketball awarness and overall skill set that far exceeds anyone in college basketball right now. Has he been perfect? Of course not. Is there plenty of room for him to grow as a player? Absolutely. But to put all of this on him is ridiculous.

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Simmons is already in academic trouble and hasnt been at LSU a year

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Based upon what info? Some halftime report? I suspect yesterday had nothing to do with any academic issues. He played nearly 40 minutes 3 days before against Bama and one week before against A&M. I doubt these undisclosed "academic issues" just popped up at some point between Wed. and Saturday. And even if he is having academic issues, who gives a shite? EVERYONE, Simmons, Jones, etc. knew/knows this is going be his only year at LSU. If I were 18 years old and knew I was going to be the likely #1 pick in the NBA draft and only staying in college one season, I wouldn't give a damn about class either.

Jones' use of Simmons was criminal this season. It was as close to just "rolling the ball out" at letting the game simply just happen as it could possibly be at this level. I've watched just about every minute of LSU basketball this season. You could see the frustration building for Simmons on the court. This is a kid with uncanny court-vision and ability who is forced to play in style that can be described as nothing short of a stagnant, unorganized mess on offense, and YMCA level principles on defense. He is absolutely desperate to get his teammates involved on offense. Yet when he has the ball, everyone just generally stands and watches. On the 2 occasions a game that someone actually cuts hard to the basket, Simmons finds them EVERY TIME. On defense, there are many times that he is the only one playing with any kind of awareness. Just because he's not blocking shot after shot, doesn't mean he's not playing good defense. Unfortunately, he can't defend 5 guys at once, and Jones' absolute inability to teach any kind of functional defense is a huge reason why this team will fail to live up to its full potential.

The kid is in a no-win situation On the one hand we've got retards like the OP saying the kid is selfish and thinks he's "better than the program". On the other hand we get thread after thread, week after week, bemoaning him for not "taking over games."

Simmons could have gone to any college in America. Certainly one with a better basketball pedigree than LSU and MOST CERTAINLY one with a coach who wasn't thought of nationally to be completely over his head. Instead, Simmons committed early to LSU and never once wavered on that commitment. He also helped reel in another McDonalds All-American (Blakeney) who would have NEVER considered LSU without Simmons on board. He came to a program where it was almost a certainty that he would be under-coached and underdeveloped, yet never backed away from that situation until Saturday.

He hasn't been perfect, but he is far, FAR, from LSU's biggest issue. To say he's "more of a distraction than a benefit" is possibly one of the dumbest things I've red on a board where a litany of dumb things are said every 5 minutes. Can you imagine how bad this group would be without him?

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Johnny Jones is not the coach LSU needs but Simmons is already in academic trouble and hasnt been at LSU a year.

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This is a system problem, not a Ben Simmons problem. The one and done rule causes this.