re: MBB Portal Targets List

Did Bailey visit this weekend and does anyone have any information about it? It’s been pretty quiet for the past few days

Expect Dji Bailey to commit soon!

I may be wrong but if we add Dji Bailey that would be our last scholarship spot. That gives a roster of, in no particular order:

Cam Carter
Jordan Sears
Dji Bailey
Tyrell Ward
Jalen Reed
Daimion Collins
Mike Williams
Derek Fountain
Corey Chest
Vyctorious Miller
Robert Miller
Curtis Givens

if that's the final roster LSU is in trouble yet again on the interior

Miller is a true fr but will have to be counted on for a lot of minutes
Chest is coming off a redshirt year
Fountain would rather shoot 3's then bang inside
Collins has yet to live up to his billing coming out of high school and missed most of sec play last season
Reed is not a dominant inside player either

where is the rebounding and point production gonna come from?

Lol you have absolutely zero idea what this roster’s potential will top out at. That’s based on nothing more than your opinion. I think this team looks better than last years with this addition. Definitely better than the team we actually got but that’s just my opinion so we will see

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It looks like this upcoming roster's potential might top out as middle of the pack SEC/ NCAA bubble.

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I am not saying these things happen but imo, this is the roster's potential ceiling:

PG: Jordan Sears - Comes in and is a bucket averages between 17-21 points while also dishing out 3-5 assists per game and getting 1-2 steals per game.

SG: Cam Carter - Averages between 10-15 ppg while being a lock down defender.

SF: Tyrell Ward - Takes a step forward and becomes a 15-17 ppg type of guy while continuing to be a good defender.

PF: Jalen Reid - Takes a step forward and becomes a 15-17 ppg guy and improves his rebounding and defense.

C: Daimion Collins - Stays healthy and becomes the rim protector we have been missing.

6th: Mike Williams III - improves on his freshman season and becomes a consistent spark plug off the bench.

7th: Derek fountain - Brings his scrappiness off the bench and gives us a 3rd big man.

8th: Cory Chest - Best case is he beats Fountain out for the 3rd big man and is a rebounding machine and good defender.

Then there is the freshman:

VJ Miller - Comes in and is a sniper off the bench. come sin any time we go cold and gets us going on Offense.

Curtis Givens- Steady backup PG that can run the show off the bench.

Robert Miller III- Comes in and is a rim protector and steady rebounder.

I am aware that the chances of all of this happening is very slim but this is the actual ceiling. If all of this comes to fruition, we would easily be a tournament team and would probably win at least a game or 2. If only half of the players hit these ceilings then we still most likely have a tournament team.

Now I am aware that while these predictions show a good team that its very possible that all the returning players are exactly what they were last year and the transfers come in and struggle or at least don't perform as well as they did at their previous stop. So while I think the ceiling is solid tournament team, the floor is exactly what we saw last season or worse.

I choose to believe that CMM will continue the development of the returning players and take this program another step forward.

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I wouldn’t even say that is the ceiling. Chest and any of the freshman could potentially be stars next year we just have to wait and see. Those are all fairly highly recruited players so it’s not like hoping a 2 star blows up. But even if they don’t and they only contribute a small amount there is potential on this roster to be a tournament team.

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My point was really to show that saying the ceiling is bubble is kind of silly. The ceiling is a solid tourney team that wins a few games. The most likely outcome imo is bubble team. The floor is reverting back to year 1. I think the veiling is more likely than that floor.

It's WAY too early to start making any predictions about next season because there is so much unknown. Most teams don't have their full rosters yet and no one has a schedule set.

As of now, Alabama will likely be the favorite to win the SEC. Tennessee will get the benefit of the doubt behind them. Likely the same for Auburn. Kentucky and Arkansas are wildcards as both will have almost completely new teams with new HCs. You have to think Cal will at least have Arkansas competitive. Kentucky is just a huge unknown.

Mississippi St has been solid in two years under Jans. You have to think that continues. Florida took a step forward last season. Does it continue? Missouri went from unexpectedly good to unexpectedly horrible. Same for South Carolina, but in reverse. Missouri has a highly rated recruiting class coming in. South Carolina is losing a lot of key pieces. I wouldn't be shocked to see them flip-flop again.

How are Texas and Oklahoma going to adapt?

A&M seems to have hit a plateau.

I'm shocked Beard is still at Ole Miss. Year 2 has historically been when he makes a big jump. But is that possible at Ole Miss?

Right now LSU has the 15th ranked overall (recruits and transfers) class in the country. Those rankings can often be skewed by teams who have to sign a lot of players vs. the ones that only have to sign a few. But on that note, if you look at the average rating of LSU's incoming players they are ranked 12th in the nation (on 247) in company that LSU hasn't been with in a while (Baylor, UConn, Duke, UNC, Kansas, Alabama, Houston, Arizona). That's in addition to LSU keeping retaining all of their highest rated underclassmen.

For purposes of analysis if you ignore the last two seasons and simply look at the ratings of who returns plus who is coming in ON PAPER this looks like it could be a really good team considering LSU (again, on paper) is swimming in the waters with some of the best programs in the nation.

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CMM put together an excellent recruiting class but an avg transfer class (so far). The transfer clas is ranked outside the Top 50 on EM. Anyone who follows CBB knows that trying to project the impacts FR will have is a fools errand. How many previously Top 50 ranked FR hit the portal without contributing anything at their first school? So, the impacts of the FR are a bit of a wildcard.

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I don't know what "EM" is. I guess you could say LSU has an "average" transfer class. But, to date, it's only 2 players. FWIW, on3 has LSU's transfer class ranked 16th. And if you look at the average rating of the two transfers it is higher than the average of other schools who have taken more transfers. Of course, all of this is all subjective.

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I actually wouldn't be surprised if next season is a bit of a step backwards (SEC finish wise)

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Perhaps. But order of finish is completely irrelevant for NCAA Tournament purposes. Would you prefer to be 2023 Vanderbilt who went 11-7 in SEC play, finished T-4th, and missed the NCAAT, or 2023 Arkansas/Mississippi St. who went 8-10 in SEC play, finished T-7, and reached the NCAAT? Of course I would love to see LSU win the SEC. But given the choice, I would MUCH prefer to see LSU go 19-12 (8-10) and reach the NCAA Tournament vs going 17-14 (9-9) and barely making the NIT.

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but the following season looks to setup very nicely for CMM & Lsu

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Sounds good in theory, but you can't look too far ahead in college basketball. McMahon has done a really good job of retaining key players for next season. But would he be able to do it again if next season is a third straight year of weak results? Unlikely.