It is no secret that when Matt McMahon landed the LSU men’s basketball coaching job in March, he inherited a sinking ship, albeit a temporary one. No one was expecting much of him during his first season, with the program’s situation being bleak.
The raging sea of controversy stripped the ship bare, and with the prospect of potential postseason sanctions next season expected to weigh on LSU’s recruiting success, obtaining the pieces needed to replenish its foundation seemed impossible. Nobody was expected to stay, and few were expected to join.
But despite not having immediate pressure on him, McMahon promptly got to work at building LSU back into a contender, making progress each week from the end of March to the middle of May.
He added the first new piece to his roster just over one week after being hired, signing standout power forward Kendall Coleman out of Northwestern State. While mostly unproven against prominent competition, Coleman not only averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds per game in his second season with the team, but greatly improved his efficiency and displayed legitimate potential. Aside from just what he brings to the team, his signing also got the ball rolling in terms of rebuilding.
McMahon would receive some help from his former squad after that, as Murray State’s guards Justice Hill and Trae Hannibal signed within the next two days. Suddenly, the bleeding had stopped.
The LSU players that remained in the transfer portal delayed their decisions, with small forward Mwani Wilkinson and point guard Justice Williams eventually opting to return to LSU two weeks after the signing of Hannibal. Amidst their returns, the Tigers also signed their fourth transfer of the offseason in NC State guard Cam Hayes and first recruit of the 2022 class in three-star center Cornelius Williams.
While they still had a way to go, the tone regarding LSU’s 2022-23 basketball team started to shift, as they went from an expected bottom dweller in the West to a team that could possess merit with just a few more moves. And McMahon was by no means finished yet.
A week later, he would add more depth to the roster with the acquisition of forward Derek Fountain out of Mississippi State before having arguably the best three-day span of the entire offseason.
Not only did they sign two top-100 recruits, power forward Jalen Reed and small forward Tyrell Ward, in just a three-day span, but it was also revealed that LSU was still in the running for Adam Miller, who had entered the transfer portal a few weeks prior. Even if Miller opted to join TCU instead of LSU, they had already built a legitimate starting five with a few key depth players coming off the bench, minus a starting center.
It would take McMahon less than a week to have that hole filled, with Murray State contributing its third and final player to the LSU roster with star center KJ Williams, who averaged 18 points and 8.4 rebounds per game and won the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year award in 2022.
With Miller opting to return to LSU a week later and the Tigers acquiring their last piece of the off season in four-star center Shawn Phillips a few days after that, the Tigers currently sport a commendable starting lineup that contains multiple proven starters and players with star potential, three high level prospects that could either impact the team’s future or provide immediate impact and depth at every position. They are not just set up for the future, they are set up for now.
There are lot of questions entering the season, like how the trio they acquired from Murray State will adjust to SEC play, whether the three four-star prospects they recruited will provide an immediate impact or not and how Adam Miller lives up to expectations fans have for him, but it is undeniable that McMahon has done all he could to provide this squad with a chance at immediate success.
He stopped the program’s bleeding by gaining tenable building blocks that brought the destruction of LSU’s roster to a standstill and built a team worthy of competing against the SEC by bringing back Adam Miller and obtaining star caliber players from the transfer portal and freshman class of 2022.
If the program somehow avoids sanctions, the Tigers could be a dark-horse contender for the SEC title and more.