LSU head coach Will Wade held his first press conference of the season on Monday.
Wade said the team will begin practice on Friday, and understands this team is a work in progress. Wade mentioned that he expects to see more grit and toughness from the team.
“There’s a new normal,” Wade said. “They know what to expect, and you either do it or you get left behind.”
This week Wade and the coaching staff will put the team through an intense boot camp regimen that will last three days. The players have that if they don’t pass boot camp week, they won’t be playing this season.
The boot camp is another tool that Wade is using to change the culture of LSU basketball.
Over the summer, the first-year head coach had players on body building programs, and said that on average each player put on an average of 12 pounds in the offseason.
“Some of the more notable ones will be [sophomore forward] Wayde Sims and [sophomore guard] Skylar Mays,” Wade said. “Mays has lost weight, and I think it’s helped him with his explosiveness. Sampson’s upper body has also changed quite a bit.”
Along with Mays, senior big men Aaron Epps and Duop Reath were a few names Wade pointed out as guys who have put hard work in the gym and been vocal leaders.
“Your team picks the captains by who works the hardest,” Wade said. “I think Duop is somebody who a lot of guys look too. If you’re one of the hardest workers that gives you an opportunity to have a leadership position on the team.”
Epps and Reath are key cogs in solving Wade’s concern about the lack of bigs down low, especially with graduate transfer Jeremy Combs sidelined him for six to eight weeks after ankle surgery according to Wade.
Combs, who had surgery to stabilize his ankle, played three seasons at North Texas for present LSU assistant coach Tony Benford, but his ankle injury kept him out for most of last season.
With Combs possibly out for the first week of the season, Wade will rely heavily on Epps to play alongside Reath.
“Aaron Epps can really shoot the ball,” Wade said. “I have to put him in positions where he can get open shots and crash the glass. We’re not going to beat anybody just lobbing it in the post.”
Freshman guard Brandon Rachal is another newcomer who can help the Tigers. Wade said that Rachal has bonded with former player and now assistant Tasmin Mitchell, and the two have worked together throughout the summer and fall. really well with freshman guard Brandon Rachal during the offseason.
“Rachal is going to be able to help us this year,” Wade said. “He’s tough, he defends, but Tasmin has really helped him in understanding what he needs to do.”
Wade would also like to shake up the way the program as a whole is run, and has made it clear to the administration what is needed for the program to move toward a championship level.
“I think there needs to be some work done on our arena here,” Wade said. “I think there needs to be some work on the nuts and bolts of how the program functions and I think they’re very receptive and open to those suggestions.”
Wade has also made a concerted effort to get the students involved with the program as much as possible. One of the goals he personally has is to start seeing more students in the stands and get people excited about their program.
“You have to recruit everybody,” Wade said referring to the students. “We want the students to be involved in what we’re doing. It’s been fun getting to know the students. I always ask them where they’re from and they tell tell you their high school so I’m slowly learning.”
