Basketball season is just getting underway, but LSU coach Trent Johnson is already building toward the future.Johnson finished his second recruiting class at LSU on Nov. 11, obtaining signatures from four players — forward Matt Derenbecker, guard Ralston Turner, guard Andre Stringer and forward Jalen Courtney. The class earned ESPN’s No. 11 ranking Wednesday night.”We’re going to be able to shoot the ball, I can tell you that,” Johnson said. “Perimeter-wise I think we have a chance to be pretty good. The thing I like about all four guys is they’re really quality kids, and they have a chance to be really quality players.”The Tigers signed a player from Metairie Park Country Day School for the second straight year when Derenbecker committed to LSU. Derenbecker was named Gatorade Louisiana Boys Basketball Player of the Year last season after he and LSU freshman forward Eddie Ludwig helped Country Day to the Class 1A state title.”We’ve been in the finals three of the last four years,” said Country Day coach Mike McGuire. “Matt came over from Ponchatoula last year, and we won it last year with Eddie and Matt.”The 6-foot-7-inch, 185-pound McGuire said Derenbecker has the tools necessary to play at either point guard, shooting guard or small forward. That could prove useful as LSU will lose senior guard Alex Farrer and senior forward Tasmin Mitchell at the end of the year.”He can play the one, two or three [positions],” McGuire said. “He’s not as quick as [junior point guard] Bo [Spencer], but he can pass the ball beautifully and he can flat out shoot.”Derenbecker’s arrival at LSU will also serve as a reunion with Ludwig. The pair’s fathers played together at Country Day, and Ludwig said he was glad to see Derenbecker sign with LSU.”One of my goals last year was to get Matt to come here,” Ludwig said. “Even if I wasn’t here, I think he’d still be coming here because he’s an in-state boy and he wants to play for his Louisiana school.”LSU also landed a rare Alabama prospect when it signed guard Ralston Turner from Muscle Shoals, Ala.Turner is considered LSU’s top-ranked prospect by ESPNU, which ranks Turner, Derenbecker and Stringer in its top 100.”This is the fifth year I’ve had [Turner],” said Muscle Shoals coach Dennis Conner. “He’s played varsity since eighth grade. We play at the 5A level … so that’s unusual to see at a large school.”Conner said Turner grew up an Auburn fan but was won over by Johnson’s straight-forward approach.”Auburn and Alabama were on him really early, but I don’t think it was that he didn’t like [Alabama coach] Anthony Grant or [Auburn coach] Jeff Lebo as much as he really liked coach Johnson,” Conner said. “He thinks the world of Coach J. What you see is what you get with him.”The class rounds out with Stringer and Courtney, a pair of Jackson, Miss., recruits. Stringer will add depth to the Tigers’ backcourt, while Courtney, a power forward, will bring his 6-feet-8-inch frame to the LSU post game.Stringer averaged 25 points, seven assists and three steals per game for Forest Park High School, earning Mr. Basketball honors in Mississippi.”We shouldn’t have any problems scoring,” Johnson said.Courtney averaged 15 points and eight rebounds per game for two-time state champion Provine High School, but Johnson said he will face stiff competition in an LSU frontcourt which looks to be deep in coming seasons.”Quite frankly, if there’s no injuries, our fours and fives will be a really experienced and deep group up front,” Johnson said. “Practices will be really, really competitive. We should be really deep, so it should be interesting.”—-Contact David Helman at [email protected]