In John Brady’s previous five seasons as the head coach of the LSU basketball team, depth always has been a concern.
NCAA restrictions and scholarship limitations stemming from ex-head coach Dale Brown’s illegal recruitment of former Glen Oaks star Lester Earl have handicapped Brady his whole time here. That, paired with an exodus of players from the LSU basketball program, decimated the Tigers so severely in the past five years that, at one point, LSU was playing with five scholarship players in the 2001-02 season.
However, with a full complement of scholarship players at his disposal and a certain excitement surrounding the program, depth no longer should be a problem.
And the backcourt of the 2002-03 version of the Tigers is reaping the benefits.
From point guard to shooting guard to off guard, LSU is stacked with talent at all three positions, and each of them consists of more than one player.
“With Antonio (Hudson) at the two, with Collis (Temple) at the two, (Courtney) Trask at the one, (Darrel) Mitchell at the one and (Tony) Gipson at the two, we have so much talent,” said senior point guard Torris Bright. “We are going to play hard every game, but if we aren’t playing well, hopefully our talent will pick up for it.”
Bright, a four-year starter, leads an abundance of options for Brady this year at the point guard position. Trask, a junior transfer from Memphis, junior Charlie Thompson and freshman Darrel Mitchell join Bright to form an extremely deep floor-general position.
Mitchell, who stands 5-foot-11 and was named Louisiana’s 2002 Mr. Basketball, has made an impression on his teammates and may be able to make an immediate impact.
“Mitchell can really play,” said senior swingman Ronald Dupree. “With his size and being Louisiana Mr. Basketball, with all those accolades, I didn’t know if he could play or not. He has definitely lived up to his name and hype.”
The sophomore Gipson also has impressed Dupree with his explosiveness and energy. Gipson attended Panola Junior College for one year and averaged 25 points per contest before becoming a Tiger.
“Gipson is a Steve Francis type player. He’s very quick and explosive,” Dupree said. “He’ll give us some energy off the bench. Somebody with heart. That’s what we’ve been missing the last few years, somebody that can come off the bench and pose a threat. It’s going to be different this year with those two guys.”
This year also will be different for the aforementioned Dupree, who was a second-team All-Southeastern Conference performer in 2001-02 and the Tigers’ leading returning scorer this year, after averaging 16.2 points per game last season.
With the addition of the 2002 Junior College Player of the Year Jaime Lloreda to the inside along with Shawnson Johnson, and the return of senior forward Brad Bridgewater, Dupree will be asked to be more of a perimeter-oriented player to take advantage of his slashing ability.
“With the big guys starting to come around in practice, the perimeter will open up a lot more,” Dupree said. “The better they play, the more I can play out on the perimeter. I love the perimeter, because I think it is my natural position. The coaches are encouraging me to slash and drive more, because that is my most effective move.”
The two guard position is also one cluttered with talent.
Crafty veteran Temple returns after undergoing ankle surgery, and sophomore standout Antonio Hudson comes back after being named to the 2002 SEC All-Tournament team, where he averaged 21 points and four rebounds in three contests. With the addition of Gipson, it may be hard for everyone to find minutes.
However, no matter who is playing around the three-point arch, there will not be much of a dropoff.
And that luxury will be one the Tigers have not played with in a number of years.