Looking Back '86- LSU becomes lowest seeded team to make Final Four

That was one of the most exciting times for LSU sports ever in my opinion. I was a student then and ate it up!

That post season run was one of the most fun times as a Tiger fan. It was incredible

People forget that the next year’s team came up 1 point short of making it back to the Final Four as a 10 seed

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People forget that the next year’s team came up 1 point short of making it back to the Final Four as a 10 seed

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Yep. Game where Nikita Wilson missed the turnaround jumper at the end. Same game where fricking Bobby Knight should have gotten t'ed up for slamming the phone down at scorer's table but the refs were too scared to call it.

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LSU Starters:
PG. Derrick Taylor
SG. Anthony Wilson
C. Ricky Blanton
PF. John "Hot Plate" Williams
SF. The late great Don Redden

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Would not trade any one of those guys for Ben Simmons.

Derrick Taylor would be the #1 PG of all time for many SEC teams, but LSU just happened to have Ethan Martin and Chris Jackson in the same era. Taylor is one of my all time favorite Tigers. I'll never forget his 35-footer to beat Auburn his freshman year.

Wonder what he's up to these days?

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Of course Indiana won it all, so to date, I think every team that has ever beaten us in the elite 8 or final 4 won the whole thing. (At least it feels that way)

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UCLA didn’t win it all in 2006. But yes, the last two times Indiana won the title they beat LSU along the way (81 and 87)

The 1986 team was loaded with talent.

The starting five at the beginning of the season:


C Jose Vargas-spilt time with Zoran
PF Nikita Wilson
SF John Williams
OG Don Redden
PG Derrick Taylor


Jerry Reynolds declares for the NBA draft.


Dennis Brown took to few courses and is declared academically ineligible.

6–11 Damon Vance was declared academically ineligible. Damon's nickname out of hs was "Sir Slams a lot" something on those lines. I can look it up.

Just before the season started 7-1 Tito Horford was strong armed out by the NCAA

Zoran Jovanovich gets hurt on the Christmas vacation and is out.

Nikita Wilson declared academically ineligible.


Moving Anthony Wilson to og, Don to sf/PF, John to PF/C and putting a rotation at Center/PF?SF that included Oliver Brown, Bernard Woodside, José Vargas and Ricky Blanton.

In the season LSU is hit with chickenpox outbreak, with star forward John Williams and backup forward Bernard Woodside hospitalized for a week.

This is when Chris Carrier the football player joined the team.

Going into the NCAA tourney is when you get this line up:


LSU Starters:
PG. Derrick Taylor
SG. Anthony Wilson
C. Ricky Blanton
PF. John Williams
SF. Don Redden


We went from sure fire final eight type team to patch and gab team by late Feb.

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A last second shot by Kirby smart

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LOL ... I think you meant Keith.

'86 what a run!

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John Williams could have been a great pro had he kept his head on and backed away from the table.
He was silky smooth with the ball and not many then could guard him. Derrick Taylor was as good of a point guard/shooter as we have had here. For those that remember the silent assassin, he was a better distributor of the ball, but a lot like him.