re: Justice Hill officially transferring to LSU:

quote:

---

I’m pretty sure he’s the one who got a guy named Ja Morant to go to Murray State.

---

Morant was a very lightly recruited player that was found by accident by an assistant coach. It’s not as if McMahon had to fight off Duke, UNC, Kentucky, etc for his signature. His ascent from relative nobody to 2nd pick in the draft was the rarest or rare exceptions to the rule. I think even McMahon would tell you it was just a matter of the stars aligning in a way they never had before or since for him

quote:

---

I understand this is sarcasm. But you think when one of his own players follow him makes your comment a thing?

---

Wouldn't it reinforce that he's a good coach?

The fact that a guy that knows him and has been with him is willing to follow him...no?

Or McMahon did a great job of developing him

Great pickup

You can’t criticize Wade on player development or older players. Players we kept for multiple years and developed - Mays, Smart, Days, E Williams, M Taylor.

Portal changes this dynamic significantly - you brought in a senior PG (Pinson). You can cut those that don’t “fit”, which Wade was doing pre portal. You don’t make 4 straight tournaments without good roster management. It was maybe Wade’s greatest strength.

If Eason wasn’t as good of a find as he was, you had no 1 and dones this season…..which have we had besides Naz?

And if you get a 1 and done, you absolutely take them. Wish we had Jabari this year.

I think MM will be good about program players. Just gotta hope he can land a blue chip to go with them every couple years or find some top guys under the radar like he did with Ja, like Wade did with Waters, Cam, and Eason.

quote:

---

A big key difference in future for LSU basketball is you will see a lot more guys stay 3-4 years. McMahon is a developer and that takes time. Will play the bench a lot to be more balanced. Typically these type teams win championships or atleast compete.

Kansas - older more experienced team
Villanova - older more experienced team
UNC - semi older (won title just 4 years ago with experienced team and a good depth)

This is not a knock on Wade, but this philosophy I feel will be better for the tournament.

---

LSU was starting to trend in that direction. This year LSU had two seniors in the starting line up. They were anticipating having to Sophomores (Miller and Wilkinson) who each started several games as Freshmen.

Duke is the odds-on favorite to win the championship and they are mostly led by young players. There are different ways to win. Were he still the coach, I think you were going to see Wade try to blend high end young talent with more veteran players form both his own roster and transfers.


I do like the fact that McMahon is bringing in an experienced PG in Hill. And he is going to have to keep brining in transfers to have a shot at competing next season. But you still need "dudes" to win at the highest level. Kansas, Villanova, UNC may have a bit more experience....but it's a lot of experienced 4 and 5 star recruits.

McMahon has proven he can win at the mid-major level. He's shown the ability to recruit some of the best of the "second tier" guys and develop them into good players. The question is can he consistently land a few top 100 HS recruits each year? He's never had to fight battles with Duke, UNC, Kentucky, etc to get top guys. Those are different battles because if you are "shocked" by what Wade was purportedly offering top recruits, then you would be even more shocked about the offers they get from the blue bloods. Just like SEC football. The more invested you are in a sport the more "resources" you have to compete for top talent.

LSU isn't a blue blood program, but it is still a name brand, thanks to Maravich, Shag, Pettit, Abdul-Rauf.... If MM could recruit well for Murray State, I predict he'll recruit higher quality players at LSU than he was getting at Murray State.
His players following him to LSU has given me much optimism going forward.