When LSU men’s basketball coach Johnny Jones hit the recruiting trail in 2012, he addressed the glaring deficiency of his contemporary squad — height.
Opponents often dominated the Tigers’ small and shallow lineup, but Jones solved that problem with a consensus top-10 recruiting class featuring five players who are at least 6-foot-6-inches tall. Jones’ efforts have paid off in the early stages of this season, as LSU is on pace to have the most single- season rebounds since 1999.
“We realize that we’re a bigger team, so we should put the ball in the post a lot and get to the boards,” said freshman forward Jordan Mickey. “It is a big focal point of our team.”
Though the Tigers appear to be bigger across the board, their average height is 6-foot-5-inches, which is the same average height as four of the last five years. The only exception is last season, when the average player was only an inch shorter.
Despite the consistency of LSU’s average height during the last six seasons, the 2013 squad is producing at a higher level than its predecessors. The Tigers are sixth in the nation and second in the Southeastern Conference with 45.6 rebounds per game, and their 6.4 blocks per game are tied for 22nd in the country.
Junior forward Johnny O’Bryant III augments the interior excellence and leads LSU with 10.1 rebounds per contest. O’Bryant accumulated 15 double-doubles last season and earned a spot on the preseason First Team All-SEC.
Mickey joins O’Bryant to fuel LSU’s proficiency in the paint, grabbing nearly nine boards per game while coming in tied for 13th in the nation with 26 blocks.
“One of the first things I learned to do was play defense,” Mickey said. “My dad always told me, ‘If you want to stay on the floor, rebound and play defense.’ So it’s something that has stuck with me throughout the years.”
The freshman forward stands at 6 feet, 8 inches, but his 7-foot-2-inch wingspan facilitates his blocking ability. The Tigers’ roster is stocked with other lengthy players, which may be the key to its increased production in blocks and rebounds.
O’Bryant and Mickey have teamed up for 41 percent of LSU’s rebounds this season, but they aren’t the only players crashing the glass. Jones has seen solid effort from his guards, who account for a quarter of the Tigers’ boards.
The 2013 squad has so far outstripped its 2008 counterpart, which was the last LSU team to make an NCAA Tournament appearance. The current Tigers haul in six and a half rebounds more per game and have doubled the rebounding margin from the 2008 unit.
Whether LSU’s success in the lane is predicated on length, effort or intensity, it’s all a part of the plan Jones set in motion last season. Now that the second-year coach has his pieces in place, the Tigers expect to have a powerful post presence every time they step onto the hardwood.
“[Dominating in rebounds] is something that coach harps on from our big guys, and they do a great job of it every day in practice,” said senior guard Andre Stringer. “All of our big guys battle day-in and day-out to get those rebounds, and that’s something we take pride in.”