By Hunt Palmer
LSU issued a press release on Tuesday detailing the successes of the athletic programs on campus this semester.
Men’s basketball is missing entirely from the release.
Eight Tiger teams currently rank in the Top 10. Three more are in the Top 25.
It’s easy to make the case that this is the golden age of LSU athletics when considering national titles in football, baseball, women’s basketball, gymnastics and track are in directly in the rearview mirror. Twice LSU has hoisted the Heisman Trophy. Paul Skenes, Haleigh Bryant, Dylan Crews and Ingrid Lindblad have all reached the same heights in their respective sports.
It’s also easy to argue men’s basketball hasn’t enjoyed a golden age in nearly 40 years.
Though the current team has won two in a row, the Tigers still sit 3-10 in league play with five ranked teams left on the schedule.
This week, On3’s Shea Dixon reported the LSU administration has made the decision to support head coach Matt McMahon into 2025-26 with a significant bump in NIL funds as opposed to making a change atop the program.
Whether or not McMahon is the answer at LSU can be debated. However, it doesn’t matter who the coach is if LSU continues to operate at 20-50 percent of the NIL budget of the powers in the most difficult basketball era in league history.
Moreso than ever, collegiate athletics is about allocation of funds. All the money goes into a bucket, and each major conference athletic department has to determine how to divvy out the tens of millions of dollars between coaches, facilities, buy outs, support staff….and players.
This season is crystal clear evidence of what will continue to happen if LSU spends $2 million on basketball players while the majority of the league spends $5 million-plus. Case closed.
What we don’t know is what happens if LSU spends $5 million with McMahon evaluating, recruiting and coaching the players.
Fixes are quick.
Missouri lost every league game last year. They ran Alabama ragged Wednesday night and will likely be a 4 or 5 seed in the NCAA tournament with the same coach. Vanderbilt went 4-14 last year. The Dores might be a tournament team this year. Michigan was 3-17 in the Big 10 last year. They’re 12-2 today.
McMahon won 15 or more games in an 18 game Ohio Valley schedule four times in five years. Two of those came without Ja Morant. When given a deck stacked equally with his peers, he excelled.
That doesn’t guarantee success in the Power 5, but it’s a data point.
In two seasons with a full roster, McMahon won’t have been able to punch up in class in the SEC. While watching losses pile up, I’m still drawn to the fact that I can’t think of any major sport at LSU where a coach is perceived at as much a disadvantage as he is.
Yes, the SEC is brutal this season, but it’s not stronger than the softball, baseball and gymnastics gauntlets laid before Beth Torina, Jay Johnson and Jay Clark annually.
They’ve routinely pulled in elite signing classes and piled up wins. A big part of that is their ability to evaluate, recruit and develop. A big part is a sincere commitment from the athletic department relative to their peers.
New arenas and massive NIL budgets in men’s basketball have swarmed the Southeastern Conference. That hasn’t happened at LSU.
Yet.
Why that commitment hasn’t been made can be debated. Is that a leadership decision? Has McMahon made a strong enough push with the powers that be?
Either way, over the next two months LSU is going to dump a pile of money at McMahon’s feet to go assemble a roster. And quickly to follow should be plans for a new arena. The commitment will have been made.
What happens next will ultimately shape the near future of LSU men’s basketball.
That comes with expectations. It’s proven by most every sport on campus that winning at the highest level is not only possible at LSU but is currently ongoing. There’s a press release to prove it.
This time around McMahon will have to hit on more transfers than not. Relying on Louisiana natives coming home for one more here can’t be the ultimate goal, though they’ve been some of his best players through three years.
McMahon deserves his share of blame for his overall record through nearly three seasons, but it’s reasonable to ask for a fair fight with the rest of the league.
Starting in March, he’s got one. He’ll have to put the gloves on.
