Former LSU forward Anthony Randolph hired an agent, forfeiting any future eligibility with LSU. Randolph declared for the NBA Draft a week ago but said he had not hired an agent and did not plan to in the near future. One LSU player confirmed to The Daily Reveille on Tuesday that Randolph had hired an agent. Will Marsaw, Randolph’s cousin and adviser, told The Times-Picayune that Randolph will be using the services of Wasserman Media Group to represent him – in particular, agent B.J. Armstrong. Rumors linking Randolph with Armstrong and Wasserman Media Group began to circulate days before Randolph denied hiring an agent during his declaration for the draft. Randolph was also linked to agent Thad Foucher before his announcement and was asked about Foucher at his press conference. “I have never heard of that man before in my life,” Randolph said of Foucher. “I haven’t signed with any agent, and I don’t plan to any time soon.” Senior Associate Sports Information Director Kent Lowe told The Daily Reveille everything being reported about Randolph hiring an agent appears to be true, and the team has no hard feelings toward Randolph for leaving early. “We wish him well. We wish him the best of luck,” Lowe said. “We were glad to have him here for a year.” Rising junior forward Tasmin Mitchell told The Daily Reveille before the end of the season there would be no hard feelings toward Randolph. “I would not hold it against [Randolph] because everybody’s trying to get there,” Mitchell said. “If he can get there sooner, why not?” Randolph, an All-American honorable mention and four-time Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week, averaged 15.6 points and 8.5 rebounds per game – No. 13 and No. 3 in the SEC respectively – this past season. And Randolph may not be the only LSU player with his name in the draft. Rising senior guard Marcus Thornton and rising senior center Chris Johnson told The Advocate they are considering entering their names in the draft but are not hiring agents. “I just want to see what’s out there and see how I stack up,” Thornton said. “I’m not going to hire an agent or anything. I just want to see what I can do and go from there.” The deadline for non-seniors to declare for the June 26 draft is April 27.
New Coach meets with assistantsLSU coach Trent Johnson’s search to fill his coaching staff began Monday afternoon as the former Stanford coach talked to LSU’s current staff. Assistant coach Chad Dollar said Monday that he had no comment on his future with the team until he talked to coach Johnson later in the day. Dollar said Tuesday he still could not comment because while Johnson had spoken with the coaching staff, no decisions were made. Johnson said Thursday at the press conference announcing him as the Tigers’ next coach that he would talk to the current staff, but he was unsure whom he would definitely try to hire besides former Louisiana Tech coach Keith Richard. A player said Tuesday that Johnson told the team he had talked with the assistants but had made no decisions.
—-Contact Jerit Roser at [email protected]