Mid-April isn’t the time to be scrambling for recruits in college basketball.
New LSU coach Johnny Jones has no choice.
With center Justin Hamilton’s departure for the professional ranks, three graduating seniors and only one commitment - Malik Morgan - after the exit of former coach Trent Johnson, LSU’s roster is suddenly skinny.
Only seven Tigers are currently on scholarship, so Jones could potentially sign five players this offseason.
But the former Tiger recruiting extraordinaire is in a unique position. With national signing day already a week in the rearview, there’s little time for Jones to identify big-time talent and get them to campus.
At his introductory press conference Monday, Jones said he’s focused more on the program’s long-term health than bringing in players just to fill scholarships.
“We don’t want to waste any scholarships and be hung out there with somebody for the next three or four years that’s not going to help move the program forward,” he said.
LSU’s recruiting struggles in recent years are notorious. By Scout.com’s measure, Louisiana has produced 15 top-100 national recruits since 2003. Only three donned the purple and gold at the collegiate level.
First-round NBA draft picks like Greg Monroe, D.J. Augustin and Danny Granger have eluded LSU, which Jones says is unacceptable.
“We’ve got to make sure we blanket Louisiana, so it’s going to be very hard for other schools to come in here when LSU wants a guy,” Jones said. “In football, they’ve done a great job of getting kids from the state and winning championships with them. We’ve got to do that.”
Jones’ hiring wasn’t unanimously met with praise in LSU circles, but that divide has nothing to do with his recruiting ability.
He helped lure Chris Jackson, Shaquille O’Neal and Randy Livingston to Baton Rouge as an LSU assistant and left the Mean Green with a potential lottery pick in forward Tony Mitchell, who signed with North Texas last year as a coveted five-star recruit.
Calling himself a “one-man wrecking crew” without a staff in place yet, Jones began his whirlwind recruiting last weekend, immediately talking to Riverside’s Ricardo Gathers, who signed with Baylor, touching base with Morgan, who reiterated his LSU commitment, and contacting touted junior college forward Shavon Coleman.
Coleman, a 6-foot-6 wingman from Thibodaux who played the last two seasons with Howard College in West Texas, is the nation’s No. 8 JUCO recruit and lists LSU, Oklahoma and Texas Tech as his top transfer choices.
“I don’t want to rush this, especially now with what’s going on at LSU,” Coleman recently told Scout.com. “I need to take my time and make sure I make the best choice for me, but I’m still interested in LSU.”
Gathers said he might have signed with LSU if Jones’ hiring wasn’t so late in the recruiting season, while Morgan said his commitment was always about LSU, not who was coaching.
In addition to his time at LSU and North Texas, Jones also spent time as an assistant coach at Memphis and Alabama, making the entire southern U.S. a potential LSU recruiting playground.
“JJ has an extensive reach in states like Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama, because he’s made those connections,” said former LSU great Rudy Macklin, who played with Jones on LSU’s 1981 Final Four team.
Jones may be limited this year, but next year looks more promising. Two top-100 recruits for 2013, Madison Prep’s Jarrell Martin and Episcopal’s Brian Bridgewater, sit right in LSU’s backyard.
 
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Contact Chris Abshire at [email protected]