LSU coach John Brady said he recently received a letter from a St. Martinville woman that said senior guard Darrel Mitchell did not get enough playing time.
Mitchell, a St. Martinville native, played every minute of LSU’s 84-69 win Wednesday night, finishing with 27 points and eight assists.
“That nice lady was obviously a Darrel Mitchell supporter,” Brady joked. “I guess the only game she saw was against Georgia when Darrel was on the bench for the last 10 minutes. It just goes to show how much criticisism a college coach can get.”
Mitchell shot 8-11 from the field, including two three-pointers. He also made all nine free throw attempts.
His three-pointer with 7:12 left in the second-half increased LSU’s lead to nine, and LSU never looked back.
“It is a real good feeling to still be undefeated in the Southeastern Conference,” Mitchell said. “Auburn really came at us hard, but we were able to pick it up in the second half. That’s the way it goes when you are the big dogs in the SEC.”
Mitchell has made the transition from shooting guard to the point this season.
He has led the LSU offense to a second-best 77.4 points a game in the SEC, and his 96 assists this season rank fourth in the SEC.
“Even though I played the two guard my first three years at LSU, I knew that Tack (Minor) wasn’t going to be here for the first half of the year,” Mitchell said. “It’s not really a big change. I played it in high school.”
Minor was suspended for the first seven games of the season because of an academic violation of the Student Code of Conduct.
Mitchell said the only difference between playing shooting guard and point guard is the point guard has the ball in his hands more.
“When Tack went down with an injury after he came back, I knew I had to step up and lead this team since I was the only senior,” Mitchell said. “It is my job to distribute the ball to my teammates. It is my last year, and I am going to do everything I can to help this team win.”
Brady said Mitchell was having some trouble finding a balance between being a scorer and a passer at the beginning of the season.
“We put him at the point early, and he wasn’t getting enough attempts at the goal,” Brady said. “We put in some more plays for him, and now he knows when to create his own shot. He has blossomed into the point guard role.”
 
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