When you introduce a new head coach, one fact that flies under the radar is that he or she has to now hire a whole new staff of assistants. The search for Matt McMahon’s staff has now come to an end and the team has announced LSU’s new coaches.
One of the new assistant coaches is Casey Long. Long is a native of Leesville, LA who has been with McMahon for the last five years at Murray State. Before Murray State, he was an assistant for Will Wade at VCU. He played college basketball for Chattanooga and was one of the best players in school history.
Another assistant coach is Ronnie Hamilton. Hamilton was most recently at the University of Mississippi, where he spent four years. Hamilton is regarded as a talented recruiter and helped lead the Rebels to some of their best classes in school history. He also spends most of his time working with guards.
Cody Toppert is the final assistant coach, but not the last coach added to the staff. Toppert has been an assistant at Memphis since 2019 and before that was an assistant for the Phoenix Suns for two years. He is known to be one of the top analytics experts in college basketball and is known for being a great developer of talent. He has been credited with the growth of players such as Devin Booker, Mikal Bridges, T.J. Warren, Robert Covington and Precious Achiuwa. Under Toppert, players have seen a sharp rise in both shooting and defense. T.J. Warren, for example, rose from a 28.3% career three-point average to a 42.8% average. This is a key hire for McMahon’s staff; Toppert is young at only 39, but a highly regarded name in coaching circles.
The Chief of Staff is Tim Kaine. Tasmin Mitchell remains at LSU as the special assistant to the Head Coach. Ronrico White is the director of player development. Director of recruiting is Jeff Moore. Mike Chapman is the video coordinator. The last coach added to the staff is Brian Puckett, who is the new strength and conditioning coach.