LSU men’s basketball coach Trent Johnson said at LSU Media Day on Oct. 13 he had the healthiest team he has ever had going into a season.
Then the injuries started to build.
After 10 practices, Johnson said sophomore forward Eddie Ludwig and junior center Justin Hamilton both have concussions, while junior forward Storm Warren has a minor shoulder issue.
“Justin Hamilton to my knowledge was [hurt] on a charge,” Johnson said. “Eddie’s was in a two-on-two passing post drill. I don’t know what happened with Storm and his shoulder.”
Hamilton will be held out for the next two days, but the others have returned to practice, Johnson said.
Warren, who averaged 11.8 points per game last season, said he feels fine and, aside from having his tonsils taken out, he hasn’t missed much time this preseason.
“Everybody gets a little sore now and then, but it’s nothing serious anyone’s going to be out for,” Warren said. “It’s normal, basic stuff.”
Johnson said the Tigers are focused defensively in practice and have turned up the intensity from last season. Physical play could result in an injury once in a while.
“You’ve got to be committed, you’ve got to be physical, and you’ve got to play with a purpose,” Johnson said.
Junior forward Malcolm White, who sat out last season after transferring from Ole Miss, returned to practice this week after spraining his ankle earlier in the preseason.
“I’m not going to say I’m 100 percent, but I’m able to go through practice and compete in all of the drills,” White said.
White doesn’t expect the ankle injury to linger.
“Right now everybody’s healthy,” White said. “We’re all going hard in practice. But that’s the key — pushing through and being mentally strong.”
Mental toughness was essential for White last season as he watched LSU go 2-14 in the Southeastern Conference. He said he had to stay strong mentally while the frustration built as he sat on the bench, unable to help his teammates.
“You can mentally break down,” White said. “But over time I trained myself to know it’s for the best. I’m in a better situation, and I’m in a better program.”
Johnson said White, who averaged 7.2 points per game as a sophomore for the Rebels, is the only player he’s confident putting on the court immediately. He said White will probably get “more touches in this system than he’s ever had since high school.”
“He works extremely hard, he’s physical, he’s very aggressive, and he doesn’t do a lot of talking,” Johnson said of White. “He lets his actions speak. It fits into what we like to do.”
Sophomore guard Aaron Dotson said nobody can survive missing multiple practices from aches and pains because of the competition and battles at each position.
“Coach [Johnson] is going to replace you with another guy,” Dotson said. “So guys try to stay out there.”
But Dotson said the health of the team as a whole is solid.
“We’ve had some guys miss practice with a couple injuries that they’ve gotten in practice because it’s so physical, but other than that everybody’s pretty healthy,” he said.
Dotson had to fight through a knee injury last season, which he said severely inhibited his ability to cut and drive to the basket.
He said he has felt great this season, and he finally feels like he has his legs under him.
“I’m in the best shape I’ve been in my whole life,” Dotson said.
The Tigers were supposed to scrimmage Southern Miss during fall break, but the scrimmage was postponed after a scheduling conflict.
Johnson said the plan is to scrimmage Tulane on Saturday and Southern Miss on Sunday.
 
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Contact Rowan Kavner at [email protected]