After struggling mightily in 2009-10, the LSU men’s basketball team has to improve without two key cogs to their team.The Tigers will be without point guards Bo Spencer and K.C. Ross-Miller for the season because of academic reasons, knocking the number of scholarship point guards on the team down to two.”I think it’s more about what we gained this year than what we lost,” said LSU coach Trent Johnson. “We’re solid at every position. I feel really good about us this year.”Spencer’s absence is perhaps the biggest hit for an inexperienced roster. He was slated to be the only senior on a team that went 2-14 in conference play and 11-20 overall last season.After averaging 14.5 points per game on 33 percent shooting in his junior season, Spencer is no longer enrolled at LSU after failing to meet academic requirements.Spencer was suspended indefinitely by the team last spring for academic reasons and did not participate in team functions this summer.Johnson isn’t worried about the lack of experience on the roster, however.”The game is different than it was 10 or 20 years ago,” Johnson said. “Experience doesn’t mean anything if you can play.”Ross-Miller did not pass the NCAA Clearinghouse requirements, making him ineligible to play under NCAA and Southeastern Conference regulations.Ross-Miller played high school basketball under his father at God’s Academy in Grand Prairie, Texas. Some of the co urse work Ross-Miller took at God’s Academy wasn’t accredited by the NCAA.”The NCAA didn’t accept certain course work he did in high school,” Johnson said. “But I feel good about where we’re at at point guard. Chris Bass is coming into his third year here, and Andre Stringer, believe me, he can shoot.”The Tigers will also adjust to the loss of Tasmin Mitchell, who was a mainstay on the team during his four years at LSU. Mitchell led the team in scoring and rebounds last season, averaging 16.8 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.”We lost a quality player who could win games,” Johnson said of Mitchell. “But we have guys who are committed to the team and the University. This is a team I’m excited about.”The Tigers’ frontcourt will be led by junior forward Storm Warren, who is the only returning double-digit scorer on the team after averaging 11.8 points per game last season. Warren will be joined by junior Ole Miss transfer Malcolm White, freshman Matt Derenbecker and sophomore Dennis Harris, who Johnson said will play at small forward this season.Bass and Stringer will split time at the point guard position along with sophomore Daron Populist, who was invited back to the team after walking on last season. Sophomore Aaron Dotson and freshman Ralston Turner will battle for time at shooting guard.Stringer played at class 5A Forest Hill in Mississippi, where he was named Mr. Basketball in Mississippi and was a two-time Gatorade Mississippi Player of the Year. Stringer brings a sweet stroke to Baton Rouge, scoring more than 2,400 points in his high school career, including 61 in one game.Derenbecker matched Stringer by being named the Gatorade Louisiana Player of the Year in both 2009 and 2010. The averaged 25.5 points and 9.9 rebounds a game his senior year at Metairie Park Country Day School.”The thing I like about us moving forward is we have eight or nine guys in a rotation instead of one guy like [Mitchell] out there getting us 20 to 25 points a night,” Johnson said. “I think we’re going to be exciting.”—Contact Luke Johnson at [email protected]