On Tuesday, Brandon Bass, the LSU basketball team’s starting forward who was named Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year in 2003, announced he was testing out the NBA waters and placing his name in the draft.
Bass also announced he would not be hiring an agent, giving him the option of coming back to school and continuing to play for LSU if it become apparent he will not be selected in the top 20 of the draft.
Bass averaged 12.8 points per game as a freshman to go along with 7.4 rebounds and shot 50.4 percent from the floor.
He is a superb talent with NBA moves and the body of a professional basketball player. He is a local talent from Capital High School who gave the LSU basketball program a serious boost when he committed to John Brady and company in the spring of 2003. He will one day be a serviceable player in the NBA. But he is not ready for the rigors of the NBA.
Bass’ play early on in the season was immensely helped by the presence of another big man, Jaime Lloreda. But when Lloreda mysteriously left the team, Bass’ game suffered, not exactly in the points column, but in his on-court presence. There were stretches of games where he disappeared, and it hurt the Tigers down the stretch.
He still needs to learn how to be “the man” on a big stage, and he needs to realize he has the talent to take games over at key stretches.
However, Bass may not be leaving just for the riches of the NBA. He may read the writing on the wall.
After LSU’s dismal finish in 2003-04, in large part due to the departure of Lloreda, excitement was high coming into 2004.
After all, LSU had signed one of the best big men in the nation, Glenn Davis from University High, and even had another Temple coming aboard, Garrett, to help round out an already talented team.
But reports have surfaced that Davis is taking a hard look at entering the NBA draft, and even if he does not do so, he may have a hard time qualifying academically for the 2004-05 season.
Then there are the reports about associate head coach Butch Pierre.
Recently, University of Louisiana-Lafayette Jesse Evans took the head coaching job at the University of San Francisco. Rumor has it Pierre is the frontrunner to replace Evans, which would be bad news for LSU. Pierre is a recruiter extra-ordinaire and would leave a huge void in the LSU basketball program if he did leave.
There is also the chance that if Pierre left for ULL, LSU would have limited chances at signing senior All-American high schooler Tasmin Mitchell, a phenomenal big man from Denham Springs High School that has scouts — both college and pro — foaming at the mouth to acquire.
So maybe Bass figures if he does come back to LSU, it would be a long year. If everything turns out like it could, the LSU basketball team could be back in the SEC cellar very soon.