LSU’s exhibition wins have produced drama and doubt.
The Tigers have pulled out last minute wins at McNeese and against Central Florida using clutch free throws and defense in Lake Charles, and a strong drive by Donovan Dent inside 10 seconds on Wednesday night.
Abdi Bashir’s stellar shooting, and Dent’s point guard play, have been highlights. As has Michael Ruzic’s presence in the post. On the downside, LSU has only been able to lean on five players with eligibility issues continue to linger.
LSU can’t overlook that lack of depth.
“I would love to update you, but because all my words are being used against us, I’m not going to,” Wade said after Wednesday’s exhibition win. “I’m not trying to be a jerk. I’m not. But I’m not going to talk anything about eligibility right now…I’m not trying to play coy or anything like that, but I just I’m not going to say anything on eligibility right now.”
Understandably, Wade’s summer confidence is not as obvious behind the microphone with the start of the season approaching. On Tuesday, the SEC filed paperwork against LSU that specifically named RJ Luis, and the former international professionals currently on the Tigers’ bench.
Gilad Levy, Saliou Niang and Brice Dessert have been with the team but have not entered either exhibition game.
Last week in Lake Charles, Wade said that he felt a couple more players could be eligible this week. It appears that has not happened.
That forced huge minute counts for the eligible players in exhibition action.
Of 80 possible minutes, the starters have gone almost the entire way Dent (77 minutes), Divine Ugochukwu (78 minutes), Bashir (78 minutes), Mo Dioubate (68 minutes) and Ruzic (73 minutes) can’t be relied on to play as much as they have. Though, they’ve done so admirably.
“Our guys are in great shape,” Wade said. “Our conditioning staff does a tremendous job. I mean, it’s obviously not ideal to play these guys this many minutes. But it’s certainly something that we’ve had to do; and our guys have responded.”
With Niang, Dessert and Levy eligible and injured guard Austin Nunez back in the fold, LSU would have the required depth to compete in the SEC. The talent looks good on paper, too.
In an era of team building, as opposed to program building, Wade is getting used to annually dealing with massive roster overhaul. It’s not as if, once cleared, the players with eligibility questions will have to dive into a brand-new team.
They’ve been together for much of the summer.
“All the guys that are on the bench have been practicing and doing everything,” Wade said. “So, I think they’ll be up to speed. We’ll see how things go.”
LSU travels to Tallahassee to take on Florida State in its final exhibition a week from Saturday on Oct. 24. The first game, a home contest with LSU New Orleans is Tuesday, Nov. 3, is 19 days away.
Without the reinforcements, LSU is simply short on capable bodies. In-season injuries are inevitable and 38-minute workloads are unsustainable.
The talent is exciting, but the answers from the NCAA and SEC will ultimately tell Wade’s first new chapter back at LSU.
