The 2009-10 LSU men’s basketball team will look somewhat like a distant cousin to last’s year squad. Leading scorer Marcus Thornton, defensive stalwart Garrett Temple and shot swatter Chris Johnson left the team most noted for winning the regular season Southeastern Conference title and giving North Carolina its toughest tournament game en route to a national championship. Senior stud Tasmin Mitchell will be leading the Tigers’ push to fill that void. Junior standout guard Bo Spencer will be behind him. But the picture gets a tad fuzzy after that.And that’s where sophomore forward Storm Warren comes in. Warren, a highly touted recruit in 2008, played a reserve role for the Tigers last season. Warren appeared in 30 games and averaged two points per game. “It’s a new team,” Warren said. “It’s not the team that we had last year, so we’re just going to have to take what we have and take it from there.”The Monroe native will be the leader of an untested frontcourt, excluding Mitchell, which could be the Tigers’ glaring weakness when November rolls around. Warren, oft-injured sophomore Garrett Green and redshirt freshman Dennis Harris have three starts combined. Coach Trent Johnson has so far cautiously lauded Warren’s offseason efforts. “You have Storm Warren, who probably works as hard as anybody on this basketball team with the exception of Tasmin Mitchell,” Johnson said. “But in terms of his strength and in terms of his commitment — to make himself be the best basketball player he can be — he’s done a very, very good job of that. I’m looking forward to him having a good year.”Warren said he’s worked on improving a myriad of skills this offseason — footwork, his jump shot and “all-around inside game” to name a few.”I just worked hard. Since they’re giving me a bigger role, I just want to be prepared for it,” Warren said. “I was working on small things — I worked on my all-around inside game, just trying to do the small things that count to help my team win.”Warren has confidence in his shooting stroke — even from beyond the arc. “Just about anything inside of the perimeter is probably the range I’m going to stick to, but I can knock down a three,” Warren said. “That’s just not my role. Only if necessary, I’ll shoot it.”Johnson was a bit more conservative on the extent of Warren’s range. “Have we worked on Storm being able to turn over the left shoulder and right shoulder and face up to shoot a 15-footer? Yes, we have,” Johnson said. “But until he’s put in a game situation where he has an opportunity to knock that down and gain confidence, it remains to be seen.”Warren was a hot name coming out of Richwood High School in Monroe. Scout.com rated Warren as a three-star recruit. The 6-foot-8-inch, 215-pound Warren played for Richwood coach Terry Martin Sr., father of former Tiger Terry Martin Jr. Warren is used to big roles. He was the main attraction for the Rams for nearly four years. Warren even notched a rare quadruple-double — 27 points, 17 rebounds, 10 blocks and 10 assists — in a midseason game en route to leading Richwood to a state runner-up finish in 2008. Warren didn’t make any predictions for the season, but is certain of the effort he will bring. “I’m just looking to play my role to the best of my ability and try to have a great outcome,” Warren said.–Contact Chris Branch at [email protected]