Why is McMahon redshirting Corey Chest

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Because Jalen Cook.

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What does Jalen Cook have to do with Corey Chest?

That Kentucky transfer is a very fragile human being. He can jump out the gym but thats just about it. Need plenty of rice in his gumbo that's for sure.

We were looking at a 5 man rotation in the front court with Baker, Reed, Fountain, Dean, and Collins going into the season, all players with college experience and 3 with SEC experience. Collins hasn't played much this season, not sure how much injury has to do with it and I think that had we known Collins would not see many minutes Chest may not had redshirted. Combined with the back court rotation, LSU would have been looking at nearly an 11-12 man rotation and thats just not realistic. You couldn't afford to have Williams redshirt due to lack of depth at the guard position especially with Cook's eligibility in question, so Chest was the odd man out

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Chest wanted the redshirt which seems a bit weird to me, in preseason scrimmage she definitely looked like a guy that would be getting some minutes especially on this team.

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I doubt Chest "wanted" the redshirt. I suspect he took it because he was informed his minutes would be limited because Baker, Dean, Collins, Reed, Fountain, were ahead of him.

That said, I think a coach redshirting a player in this day and age is foolish. McMahon did it last season with Cornelius Williams. I'm sure all of that development he gained at LSU is paying dividends....for Western Carolina, which is where Williams is currently playing.

With the old rules a guy who was redshirted was much more reluctant to transfer because he knew it meant he had to sit another year without playing. So by the time he was eligible to play he only had 3 seasons of eligibility available. Now, with no transfer penalty, a guy can do like Williams did and go to another school. Which means LSU voluntarily got NO production out of the player.

I understand in theory why McMahon might choose to redshirt chest because he figured he would be playing several veteran guys ahead of Chest. But as the season has developed it is clear one of the bigger weaknesses of the team has been frontcourt rebounding. Rebounding is probably Chest's best attribute at this point in his career. So it would stand to reason that giving him some minutes MIGHT prove beneficial in fixing one of your team deficiencies.

IMO, this LSU team isn't good enough to leave stones unturned. Maybe Chest wouldn't make a difference. But it would be nice to have some actual game data to reach that conclusion. And if Chest decides to transfer after the season (like the one player LSU redshirted last year), then the decision to redshirt him was a complete waste.

Not a lot of guys are sticking around at the same school for 4-5 years. The majority either leave early for pro basketball (somewhere) or leverage the transfer market. So if you know you are likely to only get 1-3 years out of a player anyway why not have all available options open?

It’s been known since the summer that Chest wanted to redshirt

Yeah, you can make an argument t to not redshirt Chest, but Cornelius Williams isn't a valid one. He seemed like a last minute addition to bring him in for a year and see if he developed, but he didn't (at least not enough) so he moved on. Cornelius was behind other forwards who couldn't even get in the games last year.

I think the same concerns were made about Ward last year. Even Ward has said he was behind and he clearly didn't get upset and leave. This year he has shown some nice progress.

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As it stands now you aren't a particularly great rebounding team and you are purposely choosing to leave someone who COULD potentially help you there on the bench. For what? An extra year in the program? Odds are Chest won't be at LSU for 5 years. That's not a knock on him or McMahon. Just that very few guys stay 5 years anywhere now.

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It seems to me that McMahon, right or wrong, probably believed he had the front court rotation to compete this season and didn’t believe Chest was ready to meaningfully crack that rotation and could benefit from a redshirt year. As Chest was open to the idea, it worked out for all parties involved. That’s just speculation on my part.

I doubt Chest is the difference in our rebounding struggles this year and with the redshirt, he has more time to physically mature and become more acclimated to high level basketball in the SEC. He also preserves a year of eligibility in the process. While it may be unique this day and age, I can see where the redshirt could benefit Chest and LSU.