Just two months ago when the LSU men’s basketball team was 8-5, it couldn’t buy positive media. But now that LSU is in the Final Four for the first time since 1986, the team is more popular than Ray Nagin at the Hershey factory.
All the fan attention is on sophomore forward Glen “Big Baby” Davis and freshman forward Tyrus Thomas, who combined for 47 points, 22 rebounds and four blocks Saturday against the University of Texas.
“Everybody stops me and says, ‘Can you sign this? Congratulations! Beat UCLA! Win it all!'” Davis said. “Everywhere I go someone’s yelling my name, asking me to sign something or take a picture.”
The media has latched onto Davis as well, snapping pictures of him bored at a press conference, asking him questions about Shaquille O’Neal and his mother and laughing every time he speaks.
Everyone seems to have forgotten there are other players on the team who have made significant impacts in the NCAA Tournament, and that without them, the Tigers’ season would have ended by now.
Freshman guard Garrett Temple guarded J. J. Redick in LSU’s Sweet 16 matchup against Duke on Thursday and held him to 11 points, almost 16 points under his average.
“My junior and senior year of high school I was the point guard, the leader of the team,” Temple said. “Being a role player or a guy that doesn’t get all the attention – I don’t mind that at all because I grew up playing with these guys, and they were the stars most of the time.”
Temple and freshman forward Tasmin Mitchell, who have started for LSU all season, said as long as LSU wins they do not care about the media.
That’s good, because the media does not seem to care about them either.
Freshman forward Magnum Rolle and junior forward Darnell Lazare have put in eight minutes and 17 minutes per game, respectively, in the tournament, and Lazare has averaged six points a game. Rolle said when he first got to LSU he had a hard time dealing with the bench role.
Lazare said there are underappreciated players on every team, and he just happens to be one of them for LSU.
“As long as you’re winning, you’re getting national recognition,” Lazare said. “I’m sure there are people that see the job I’m doing out there and appreciate what I’m giving to this team. That’s all you can really ask for.”
Maybe they are the lucky ones, though. While Davis is being followed by an entourage of reporters and cameras, and Thomas is being grilled about the NBA, the rest of the team can focus on defeating UCLA in the Final Four on Saturday in Indianapolis.
“If they want to cover Glen and Tyrus, that’s good,” said senior guard Darrel Mitchell, who made the game-winning 3-pointer with four seconds left against Texas A&M University. “That’s keeping them off of our tails. That’s less talking and interviewing that we have to do. They probably enjoy it, but there’s comes a point in time where it’s enough, and they’re probably to that point right now.”
Krysten is junior in print journalism.
Contact her at [email protected]
