The best description of LSU point guard Xavier Whipple might be that of a quarterback in a run-oriented offensive football team.
He is not flashy. He does not score a lot of points. He just gets the job done, and all the while the Tigers have been winning with Whipple at the helm.
Since taking over as the starting point guard midseason in 2003, Whipple has guided the Tigers to a 23-8 record, including a 14-4 mark this season.
“I’m just trying to carry over from what I did last year,” Whipple said. “I just kind of came in and calmed the team down. This year I’ve been looking to take my shot a little more than last year. Being the point guard, I come in there and get everybody where they’re supposed to be. That’s what my job is.”
LSU coach John Brady inserted Whipple into the starting lineup last season against South Carolina and the Tigers won 9 of their last 13 games of the season. He only averaged 2.7 points and 1.9 assists, but he brought a calmness to the team, ran the offense effectively and helped the Tigers reach the NCAA Tournament.
“It was one of those things where the chemistry of the team got a little bit better, the flow of the ball got a little bit more free,” Brady said.
Whipple actually saw significant minutes in the game prior to South Carolina off the bench against Alabama, where he earned more playing time with his effort.
“I just tried to do what I could do and make the best out of that opportunity,” he said. “I made a couple of plays and played some good defense and coach Brady told me I was going to play more in the next game. That gave me some confidence.”
This season, the 6-foot-2, 170-pound junior from McIntyre, Ga. has upped his scoring to 4.7 points and leads LSU with 3.2 assists per game.
Whipple said being the point guard of a basketball team is like being a quarterback, a position he is familiar with.
At Wilkinson County High School, he played quarterback and led the state in passing his junior season and was in the top five his senior year. Southeastern Conference schools Auburn, Georgia and Alabama recruited him to play football.
“Being the quarterback, you’re the main focus on the team and everyone is looking to you to run the team,” Whipple said. “I think being a quarterback and being a point guard is basically the same thing. You need to be a leader, and everyone looks to that position.”
Whipple said the point guard is often the one who receives the credit or the blame of the play of a team, just like a quarterback.
“If you’re winning, everybody is going to say it’s because the quarterback is doing good or the point guard is doing good,” he said. “If you’re losing, they think that maybe the quarterback or the point guard isn’t running the team. Coming from those two positions and being pretty good at them, I just feel like that my job is to run the team.”
Whipple made a strong contribution in LSU’s win over Alabama on Saturday. He converted a crucial layup on a break-away pass and hit four free throws in the last 60 seconds of the game and scored eight points.
“He’ll make a surprising play every now and then,” Brady said. “I thought he made a big play against Alabama on the break-away layup at the end.”
Brady said Whipple has all the tools to be successful and make his team successful.
“He’s a good defender,” he said. “He takes open shots. He doesn’t mind sharing the ball. He looks to pass first. He’s got a personality where he doesn’t get bothered by a lot of things. He’s pretty level headed. All of those things work in his favor. He’s solid. I’m not uncomfortable with him on the floor in crunch time.”
Neither are his teammates.
“Whip brings a calmness to the team,” junior guard Antonio Hudson said. “He played on a high school state championship team so he knows how to win, and he knows how to lead the team. He does all the little things a point guard should do.”