Although they might not suit up on gameday or receive the accolades of the actual members on the men’s basketball team, two students have played an important role in preparing the Tigers for their games.
LSU had only eight healthy scholarship athletes on the active roster after junior center Chris Johnson was injured in the Tulane game Jan. 2. Because of this rare disadvantage, the Tigers have needed equipment managers to participate in five-on-five drills in practice.
The roster has been limited by injuries to junior forward Tasmin Mitchell and Johnson, who returned to practice Monday. The NCAA declared senior guard Dameon Mason academically ineligible two weeks ago.
LSU coach John Brady said playing with a depleted roster is one of the most unique situations he has ever been in.
“This situation is different from anything I’ve ever experienced except in my fourth year here when the scholarship limitations and the NCAA sanctions that we paid for the program violating NCAA rules,” Brady said.
The depth problems on the LSU roster have been evident. Three players on the roster average more than 30 minutes per contest, and the team has lost eight-straight games. Before his injury, Johnson was averaging 11.5 points and two blocks a game.
Because of the lack of healthy bodies in practice, two managers volunteered to take on extra duties to help out the team.
“I love to play basketball,” said business administration junior Donald Reyes. “I like to help the team too. We’re down now, and we needed it. It’s tough though. I’m not the most athletic guy. I’m 5-feet-5 inches, and these guys are 6 feet. I have to cover a lot of ground just to keep up with them.”
Equipment managers are usually called upon to do a lot of behind-the-scenes work that many fans do not see. They are responsible for the upkeep of the equipment and facilities used by the basketball team, as well as other things such as bringing players water during practice or running errands for coaches.
“We’ve got a walk-on and two managers dressing out everyday to make 10 guys,” Brady said. “It’s difficult because the competitiveness of the practices, and where it would be if you had 12 scholarship players is different.”
The managers are not complete novices to basketball. Both of them played high school basketball, and one of them has college experience.
Management junior John Daniel is a University High graduate who spent time as a walk-on at Louisiana Tech before transferring to LSU. At University High, Daniel played with LSU junior forward Garrett Temple and former LSU standout Glen Davis, who now plays for the NBA’s Boston Celtics.
Temple was complementary of Daniel’s basketball background.
“He’s a tall guy,” Temple said. “He was on the team when we won two state championships, so he knows the game.”
Reyes was a backup point guard at John Ehret High School in Marrero, and his team went to the top-28 tournament his senior year.
Both of the managers are happy to play again in a competitive atmosphere.
“I missed playing competitively,” Daniel said. “It’s a lot different than just playing pickup. I’ll even get a little encouragement from the coaching staff. They seem to trust me enough to be out there and coach me to what I’m doing wrong.”
Even though the managers practice with the team, they cannot abandon their regular job responsibilities.
“I do my job everyday as if I’m a manager or if I were a player,” Reyes said. “If the guys need water during a break, I’ll come off the court and get it for them. If a coach still needs something, I’ll do it.”
Both students have been equipment managers for two seasons.
Brady said using equipment managers is a disadvantage when trying to come up with game plans.
“The managers know what we’re doing, and they create some resistance, but you can’t imitate what the game will be like when you’re playing against players like that,” Brady said.
Although he readily admitted that playing against the managers does not compare with playing against other scholarship athletes, Temple said that the managers benefit the team.
“With those guys out there, they’re not just out there,” Temple said. “It really does not hurt us when the guards are guarding [Reyes]. It actually helps us because of his quickness.”
—-Contact Johanathan Brooks at [email protected]